'Suppressing': Naples man among 9 arrested during UF pro-Palestine protest
A Naples man among nine protesters arrested by law enforcement Monday evening as a pro-Palestinian demonstration continued at the University of Florida says the institution suppressed students' First Amendment rights.
Parker Stanley Hovis, 26, a computer science major, faces trespassing charges. Court records did not say when he'd go before a judge.
"Whenever we allow any group of people to be subjected to injustice, whether in our local Gainesville community or beyond, we are all at risk of experiencing that injustice ourselves," Hovis wrote in a statement to the Daily News.
Hovis said "UF officials' primary concern has been suppressing students and community members" exercising their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and expression.
"They are more worried about some chairs in the Plaza of the Americas than the active genocide being committed against the people of Gaza; a continuation of the ethnic cleansing the Palestinian people have been subjected to for over 75 years," Hovis wrote.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in Gaza, including more than 13,000 children, since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7 in Gaza.
The detained protesters were walked to a nearby building.
At least 20 officers were in that area. The officers were from the Gainesville Police Department, the University of Florida Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol. Protesters were yelling at police during the detainment process.
Messages written in chalk on the sidewalk said, "It's not a war, it's genocide," and "UF divest now."
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Protesters have gathered at the plaza since April 24.
The group of protesters gathered just before 9 p.m. Monday in front of police stationed outside Peabody Hall. Chants included, "Let them go" and "UFPD, KKK, IDF they're all the same." At the same time, protesters were seemingly unaware that the nine people detained were chained together and being loaded into an Alachua County Sheriff's Office van parked in front of Criser Hall.
Alachua County jail records show nine people between 20 and 26 were booked Monday night. Various charges include failure to obey police, resisting arrest without violence, wearing a hood or mask on public property, trespassing and felony battery.
The battery charge was filed against a student who spat on a University of Florida police officer who was helping a trooper, according to an arrest report.
On Tuesday, Fresh Take Florida reported that eight of the nine people arrested had been released from jail, including Hovis.
The Naples Daily News does not name those charged with misdemeanors as a matter of policy, but Hovis was willing to provide a statement to a reporter.
Gainesville Sun reporter Alan Festo contributed to this report.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples man arrested at UF pro-Palestine protest
