3 KU students arrested after pro-Palestine protest, following efforts to clear encampment

Three University of Kansas students were arrested early Friday in connection with a pro-Palestine protest on the campus in Lawrence, after school officials announced they planned to clear the protest encampment site.

The students “were arrested without incident for criminal trespass at Anschutz Library when they entered and caused a disturbance as students were studying for finals,” university spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said in an email to The Star Friday morning.

Those involved in the protest countered that account, telling The Star the arrests came as the protest was dispersing after students had moved into the library to study, and said students were followed and profiled by police.

It happened as a group led by the KU Students for Justice in Palestine chapter continued a multi-day protest against the Israel-Hamas war that has gathered sporadically near Fraser Hall since May 1. Protesters were provided notice Thursday that indicated university staff planned to mow the lawn and complete other preparations at the protest site ahead of the university’s commencement ceremony, scheduled for Sunday.

Barcomb-Peterson said university officials had earlier notified the protest group that a site it occupied had to be cleared by 10 p.m. Thursday, pointing to university policy and student commencement and recognition activities on campus over the weekend.

Students who spoke with The Star about the protest asked to only be identified by their first names, citing concerns over retaliation. Jen, a media liaison for the protest group, said the group had set up tents but began to disperse after law enforcement moved in at the site. Students moved to the library, and inside, protesting stopped, and students were respecting the space’s rules, she said.

“We are all students, we have finals as well,” she said. “We had to study anyway, so we decided to go to the library.”

“The whole reason why we were there was to protest KU’s involvement in the current genocide happening in Gaza and highlighting the fact that there’s no universities in Gaza standing, that there’s no graduation ceremonies that are possible,” she said of the protest.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office booking records indicate three people, a 26-year-old Lawrence woman, a 23-year-old Lenexa man and a 19-year-old Arlington woman, were arrested at the library by KU police early Friday morning. The University Daily Kansan, the student newspaper, reported the three were arrested around 12 a.m. and posted photos of students being led out of the library in restraints by police.

Students have called for the university to divest from financial ties to Israel and provide transparency on its financial ties, mirroring protests at other universities around the country. The New York Times has reported more than 2,800 people have been arrested or detained on college campuses in the U.S. in connection with protests since April 18.

Earlier in the week, KU campus police arrested one person as they disbanded a gathering, which group members have contended was within university policy.

“This is our final notice of policies, limitations, and associated consequences,” the university’s notice to the group on Thursday said, alleging that the group had previously violated school policy.

“The site must be cleared by 10 p.m., daily, beginning today, May 9, 2024. This includes, but is not limited to, furniture, bedding, tarps, and other camping paraphernalia. Anyone with items the University identifies as camping paraphernalia after 10 p.m., will be removed from the site. If there are breaches or policy violations, we will take quick action using the necessary resources and reserve the right to further pursue formal discipline under the applicable university codes and policies. Additionally, KU SJP bears responsibility for any and all actions of non-KU affiliated individuals who join your assembly.”

The group erected tents late Thursday night and a large group of law enforcement moved in to close down the site around 11:30 p.m., students who were members of the group told The Star. The group began to leave the encampment area and members moved into the library, where police arrested the three students, they said.

“We were trying to leave the area, end the protest, end the march in compliance with (police),” said Nick, one member of the group. “However, they followed us into the library, profiling any individuals that they thought were part of the encampment, going floor to floor, searching for people that they thought were part of that protest.”

Sophie, a student who joined the protest, spoke of concerns she had about the killing of Palestinians in Gaza: “I come from an ethnic group that has experienced genocide in the past, and it’s the right thing to do (to protest). It’s something I wish people would have done more fervently when it was happening to the group I come from.”