UT police make one arrest on campus during pro-Palestinian demonstration
Nineteen-year-old pro-Palestinian demonstrator Joy Ellis was arrested May 17 on the lawn of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville campus, the second time in the past three nights Ellis has been arrested on a charge of misdemeanor criminal trespass during a demonstration.
Ellis and the 10 others arrested May 15 had been warned by university officials they would be subject to immediate arrest, without a warning, if they appeared on campus again.
Ellis is not a University of Tennessee at Knoxville student or employee.
Since the demonstrations began May 1, there have been arrests on three nights: May 2, May 15 and May 17. After the May 2 arrests, university officials carved out a space reservation for demonstrators on the lawn at the student union to occupy between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. every day.
The second set of arrests, on May 15, occurred across Cumberland Avenue on a university sidewalk outside the School of Law after demonstrators declined to leave when warned by police they would be arrested if they did not.
Prior to Ellis' arrest May 17, about a dozen demonstrators were peacefully holding a group therapy session, talking about their experiences over the past few weeks.
Ellis was one of the 11 demonstrators arrested on May 15. Those arrested May 15 were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing.
UT comments on Ellis arrest
In a statement sent to Knox News after Ellis' arrest, UT Vice Chancellor for Communications Tisha Benton said:
Ellis, along with other nonstudent demonstrators who, in an act of purposeful civil disobedience, violated campus rules and were arrested for trespassing on Wednesday were told, and acknowledged, that they were being issued trespass notices and would be arrested if they returned to campus. This evening, Ellis returned to campus and was arrested. The university will continue to support free speech and enforce law and university policy, neutral of viewpoint.
What led up to the arrest?
The group, People's School for Gaza, posted on its Instagram page that it would be holding a "spontaneous day of care" on the lawn until 8 p.m. Psychotherapist Melanie McGhee arrived around 6 p.m. and led a group therapy session.
Starting at 3 p.m., a handful of students were sitting in chairs on the lawn, coloring and playing card games.
Demonstrations began on campus May 1, when a group consisting mostly of students and some community members called for the full disclosure of all university investments and financial ties to Israel.
The group, which calls itself the People's School for Gaza, has continued to gather in some capacity nearly every day since as it continues its push for UT to disinvest from those ties.
Yassin Terou, owner of Yassin's Falafel House restaurants and Syrian refugee with American citizenship, was among those arrested May 15. The group was holding a Nakba Day vigil that marks the date of the Israeli Declaration of Independence and commemorates the displacement of Palestinians before and after Israel's establishment in 1948.
Silas Sloan is the growth and development reporter. Email silas.sloan@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter @silasloan. Instagram @knox.growth.
Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: University of Tennessee police make one arrest during demonstration
