Reactions to protester arrests on Virginia Tech campus
BLACKSBURG, Va. (WFXR) — A few dozen students were back outside the Graduate Life Center at Virginia Tech on Monday, April 29. Groups sat across from the lawn where 82 people, most of them students, were arrested Sunday night. Police tape still hangs in front of the green space.
Student Asher Raza joined the group in demonstrations.
“We sent a very powerful message this weekend,” he said. “It made a difference, it made noise, this made history at Virginia Tech. This will go down in the history of our college.”
Meanwhile, President Tim Sands released a statement Monday afternoon saying, in part:
“While I am grateful the incident was resolved peacefully by Virginia Tech Police, I was saddened by the way our officers were treated. I am also deeply disappointed to see members of our community choose uncivil and unlawful behavior over purposeful engagement in difficult conversations and robust debate that should be part of the Virginia Tech experience. Virginia Tech strongly supports free speech, even when the content of that speech may be disagreeable to some. However, those rights do not extend beyond the point where they interfere with the rights of others, violate our policies, the Code of Virginia, or federal laws and/or create a threat to safety for others.”
Almost 90 people charged after protesting against war in Gaza at Virginia Tech
Local delegate Chris Obenshain also took to Facebook Monday morning saying, “It was disappointing to see a few attention-seeking students and faculty attempt to escalate the protest and willfully violate campus policies last night.” He thanked law enforcement for handling the situation.
Raza said when the university sent out alerts about the police presence Sunday night, more and more people flocked to watch the protest.
“Nothing like I’ve ever seen,” he said describing the crowd.
“One by one the police slowly arrested the students, and it was kind of like, in a way, it was disastrous for them because this was the worst time they could have arrested people, and every time they would arrest a student the entire crowd would go wild to support the student and boo the police,” he recalled.
Raza says the historic civil disobedience movements they learn about in class rarely fit into guidelines and procedures at the time, “but today they’re celebrated.”
Pro-Palestine protestors gather on Virginia Tech campus
“The fundamental demands of the students have always been that we don’t want Virginia Tech’s tuition money, the money we pay the college, the money our parents pay the college, to go toward Israeli companies, Israeli contractors, that are actively involved in this war in Gaza.”
WFXR asked Virginia Tech for a sit-down interview responding to protester demands; we were directed to previous statements made by the school.
“I understand Israel was attacked on October 7, October 7 was a horrible tragedy,” Raza explained. “They have hostages. I understand that. Israel responding was not the problem, it’s the nature of how they responded.”
“They carpet bombed entire families,” he said.
The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 34,000 people.
In the U.S., concerns have risen for Jewish students and their safety on college campuses across the country. Multiple Jewish students participated in the demonstration over the weekend, according to organizers, and Raza made a point to express support for Tech’s Jewish community.
“I want to speak to our Jewish students here on campus. We support you, we stand with you.”
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