ST. LOUIS – A group of students and community members planned an encampment in an apparent protest Saturday afternoon on the Washington University campus, FOX 2 has learned.

According to a report from our news partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, dozens of arrests were made on campus Saturday during the protest.

FOX 2 has reached out to officials at Washington University for comment, but we were unable to reach a spokesperson Saturday evening on what transpired. We are working to confirm more details.

Sidewalk squatters move up the road after tarp encampment torn down

The encampment plan follows a group march Saturday afternoon around Washington University. It also follows a series of encampments nationwide in response to the war in Gaza.

More than 34,000 people have died since Hamas, a militant group that controls Gaza, launched attacks against Israel in October, triggering a response by Israeli forces.

FOX 2 received a news release Saturday afternoon from the group that planned the encampment. The group, unnamed, consisted of an undisclosed number of students and community members. The group stated in the news release that the encampment was originally planned outside Olin Library and in solidarity with Palestine.

The group says it has set forth several demands, pushing for the university to cut ties with Boeing amid the war, among other actions.

Washington University has a partnership with Boeing. The group says that the bombs dropped on Gaza since October are the same ones manufactured at a Boeing facility in St. Charles.

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In March, WashU’s Student Union approved a resolution that called on the university to financially divest from Boeing. The university’s response to this resolution is not quite clear.

Since the student union resolution, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported of another instance earlier this month that reportedly led to arrests April 13 in a demonstration against the university’s ties to Boeing.

The group has also called on the university to cut ties with Israeli educational institutions, including study abroad programs, and release a statement condemning the war in Palestine.

WashU has released a statement about the disruption on campus:

“Today a large group of individuals entered the Washington University campus with the intention of causing a significant disruption to the university. The group, which included WashU students and employees as well as many individuals not affiliated with the university, marched to multiple campus locations, pitched tents, and indicated that they did not intend to leave. They also put out a call for more people to come to campus to join their demonstration.

It quickly became clear through the words and actions of this group that they did not have good intentions on our campus and that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous. When the group began to set up a camp in violation of university policy, we made the decision to tell everyone present that they needed to leave. We arrested more than 80 individuals who refused to leave after being asked multiple times. All will face charges of trespassing and some may also be charged with resisting arrest and assault, including for injuries to police officers.

We are firmly committed to free expression and allow ample opportunity for voices to be heard on our campus. However, we expect everyone to respect our policies and we will take swift action to enforce them to their fullest extent.”

Our news photographers spotted a heavy police presence Saturday evening around the campus.

This is a developing story. FOX 2 will update as more information becomes available.

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