Following an uptick in protests and anti-semitism on university campuses nation-wide, a violent protest required police intervention at the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.
There has been one reported arrest made so far following a violent protest that occurred at the University of Pittsburgh campus on Sunday. The protest drew police from the university, Carnegie Mellon University, the city of Pittsburgh, and the Pennsylvania State Police.
Jared Stoneseifer, senior director of external communications for the university, said “The group of demonstrators quickly erected wooden barricades and fencing, and other structures with tents inside before our public safety team could intervene, stating their intent to reestablish the Gaza solidarity Encampment.”
The group that organized the protest, Pitt Divest, has called for the university to cut financial ties with Israel. The group describes itself as representing students, faculty, staff, and community members, but is not affiliated with the university. The organization claimed that “Today the campus is reclaimed in the name of the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea”.
Demands were issued to the university by the group relating to investments, research partnerships, speakers at university events, demilitarizing the campus police force, and severing ties with the city of Pittsburgh police department. The organization said, “We will not rest until the university has acceded to our demands and addressed its ongoing complicity in the genocide and oppression of Palestinians”.
At the protest, participants were heard chanting “Cease fire now” and “Hands off Gaza”. Donald Johnson, 33, was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and obstruction.
The protest at the University of Pittsburgh Campus was part of a broader effort by activists to create unrest on college campuses about the turmoil in the Middle East.
