‘They took down the US flag.’ Pro-Palestinian protesters return to UNC encampment site

Hours after police evicted them from an encampment, pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched back to UNC-Chapel Hill’s main quad and broke down the barriers keeping them out.

It was the beginning of an hours-long faceoff over keeping a U.S. flag on or near the campus flagpole.

Protesters took the university’s U.S. flag down just before 2 p.m. Tuesday, mounting a Palestinian flag in its place. A man approached them and appeared to grab a person holding the Palestinian flag that was being attached.

After fighting him off, at least 50 protesters encircled the flagpole as the Palestinian flag was slowly raised, chanting, “We are not afraid of you.”

UNC police worked to rehang the American flag at Polk Place. By 3 p.m., the flag was back up, coming down again a short time later.

The incident was just one of several tense moments Tuesday in an ongoing protest of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had been on campus since Friday. By mid-day Monday, the encampment of college students and non-UNC students had grown to hundreds of people.

Earlier Tuesday, campus police removed the “Gaza solidarity encampment” and detained 36 people who refused to leave. UNC Police cited 13 UNC students and 17 people unaffiliated with the university for trespassing and released them.

The protesters have called on the university to disclose investments related to Israel in its endowment and, if they exist, to divest from them. They also demanded the university end study-abroad programs to Israel and “acknowledge the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”

Images of struggles between protesters and law enforcement were seen on CNN Tuesday afternoon, and protesters threw water at UNC-Chapel Hill Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and the officers as they worked to rehang the flag.

UNC Board of Trustees Chair John Preyer criticized the town for not providing UNC with law enforcement support at the protest.

“It is outrageous that the Town of Chapel Hill did not provide law enforcement support to UNC‘s first responders working to establish order on campus earlier today. UNC does so much for the town and deserves better,” Preyer said.

Chapel Hill Police Chief Celisa Lehew declined to respond to Preyer’s statement.

Town spokesman Alex Carrasquillo said while Chapel Hill police were not involved in the protest response, they spent Tuesday afternoon helping UNC with unrelated calls on campus.

Jewish students respond

Trevor Lan, a Jewish student, stood Tuesday afternoon with about 15 other students on the steps of South Building holding an Israeli flag and an American flag.

Lan said the encampment and recent protests marked the first time he has felt “threatened” on campus and hopes people pay attention.

“They took down the U.S. flag,” Lan said. “For those of you who didn’t care about Israel and didn’t care about the Jewish people, look at it now. This is what this evolves into.”

Brendon Rosenblum, another student holding the Israeli flag, acknowledged students’ right to free speech but said there should be more accountability for some of the rhetoric that protesters spread.

A group of students kept the flag from touching the ground when it was taken down a second time and delivered it to police, who were waiting in Gerrard Hall for their next order.

Chancellor and police respond

As police prepared to leave from Gerrard Hall to march onto the quad, one officer asked if the others remembered which team they were on.

Roberts, the interim chancellor, responded: “USA.”

Some students cheered as the American flag was being raised, and sang the national anthem once it was up.

Roberts, speaking to reporters after the American flag had been reattached, said the university belongs to the people of North Carolina, not a “small minority” of protesters.

The American flag would remain hanging as long as he remains chancellor, he vowed.

More flags arrive, US flag restored

By 4:20 p.m., the scene was more calm with most protesters leaving the area around the flagpole. Groups stood in clusters around the quad.

The flagpole remained empty, but at its base, a Palestinian flag rested, with the words, “Free Palestine,” printed on it.

Two separate groups brought U.S. flags to the pole later Tuesday. One man, who stood inside the barricade erected around the flagpole, interacted with protesters standing on the other side.

They shouted at him: “You’re supporting genocide!” and “Nazi!”

The man still had not hoisted his flag an hour later when police erected a taller chain-link fence around the smaller barricades.

Around 6:30 p.m., Nate Knuffman, UNC Chief Financial Officer, and Fred Sellers, UNC System Vice President for Safety and Emergency Operations, joined facility services staff in returning the university’s U.S. flag to the pole.

The crowd, which had grown to roughly 100 people, clapped and jeered, chanting “USA! USA!” and “Free free Palestine! Free free Palestine!”

Police detain protesters

Earlier Tuesday, the other six protesters — three UNC students and three unaffiliated with UNC — were arrested and taken to the Orange County jail, where they were charged with trespassing and later released on a written promise to appear in court. At least one person was also charged with assault on a government official and resist, delay and obstruct, according to UNC police reports.

UNC facilities policy prohibits “temporary structures,” including tents, from being constructed on campus unless approved in advance.

Students for Justice for Palestine initially organized the encampment on Friday, drawing students from UNC, N.C. State and Duke universities and several non-students.

The encampment was similar to those on college campuses nationwide, including at Columbia University, which has become a flashpoint of pro-Palestinian student activism against the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, launched a terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians, with 240 hostages being taken. Since then, Israel has dropped thousands of bombs in Gaza, killing over 32,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

“We are out here until there are meaningful negotiations moving forward on meaningful movements to address our demands,” Sofie, an organizer with SJP who did not give her last name, said Monday morning. “We’re going to be out here until the university discloses, divests and actually ends complicity in the genocide against the Palestinian people carried out by the U.S. and Israel.”

Staff writers Tammy Grubb and Josh Shaffer contributed to this report.