Police believe Harvard affiliates likely cut through Johnson Gate barrier during Saturday protests | News

Harvard affiliates used bolt cutters to cut a lock securing Johnston Gate to allow about 150 protesters to enter Harvard Yard for a protest Saturday afternoon, the Harvard University Police Department said Sunday.

The incident occurred as Harvard affiliates, Cambridge residents and activists from other Boston-area universities gathered at Science Center Plaza on Saturday to protest the Israeli offensive in Rafah and condemn Harvard’s involuntary leave of absence for student protesters.

According to HUPD spokesman Steven G. Catalano, the protest was attended by “individuals unaffiliated and unaffiliated with the university.”

“Officers believe the lock was intentionally broken by someone in the Yard to allow approximately 150 protesters to enter the Yard,” Catalano wrote in an email to The Crimson.

According to Catalano, HUPD officers responding to a report of a cut lock found an abandoned bag of bolt cutters in the yard around 7 p.m. Saturday. Johnston Gate has been closed since late April as university authorities closed the yard to the public indefinitely amid the ongoing pro-Palestinian camp.

“There was no yard violation,” Catalano wrote in a follow-up email. “Officers immediately responded to the gate to secure it.”

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, the student group that organized the camp, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

University spokesman Jonathan L. Swain wrote in a statement that “the safety of the Harvard community remains the University’s top priority as we continue to manage the ongoing disruption resulting from the encampment.”

“The deliberate move by apparently someone in Harvard Yard to cut a lock on Johnston Gate during a protest is extremely concerning,” Swain wrote.

While acting Harvard President Alan M. Garber previously said in 1976 that the university had a “very high hurdle” before resorting to police action against the camp, the breaking of a deadbolt lock during a large-scale protest Yard probably won’t fall too far below Garber’s threshold.

Acting Harvard President Alan M. Garber sits in his office in Massachusetts Hall during a February interview. Garber said he wouldn’t rule out a police response to student protests, but it would require a high bar. By Marina Qu

HUPD Chief Victor A. Clay said in an April interview that while university officials cannot simply request the department arrest individuals, arrests are possible in the event of “significant property damage or physical violence of any kind.”

The protest and attempt to lift the lockdown comes amid rising tensions between protesters and administrators, who have also taken disciplinary action against more than 60 students for participating in the camp and placed more than 20 students on involuntary leave of absence.

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, the group that organizes the camp, said Friday it had rejected an offer from Garber to end the camp and avoid involuntary furlough. Hours later, administrators sent letters to at least 20 students informing them they had been placed on leave and barring them from campus.

The camp remained in the Yard Sunday evening, although most students had to leave campus by midday Sunday. It remains unclear how the administration plans to handle the encampment just days before the university’s commencement ceremonies.

During Saturday’s protests, Harvard Divinity School student Noa Sepharia said she would continue protesting despite her leave of absence.

“Hey Garber, I’m still here — and I’m not going anywhere until Harvard withdraws from genocide,” Sepharia said.

Swain wrote in the statement that there were increasing reports from “front-line staff” of harassment by camp participants.

“This behavior includes reports of employees being yelled at and surrounded by protesters while working, as well as confrontations, pursuits, and audio and video recordings,” Swain wrote. “These reports come not only from employees performing ID checks and other policy enforcement work, but also from employees performing routine tasks.”

Meanwhile, administrators also attempted to film members of the camp after they began refusing regular ID checks. Dean of Students Michael Burke used his cellphone to film protesters wearing keffiyehs, surgical masks and sunglasses to conceal their identities.

The cut barrier is the latest case of a security breach at Harvard Yard. Swain said university security and facilities staff have reported several instances of attempts to break through gate locks and force open the courtyard gates since the camp began.

Last week, police observed two college students passing supplies through a gate to the yard to unknown people they believed had climbed over the wall.

In a separate incident last Tuesday, verbal warnings were given to four people who climbed over the 1,870th gate, according to HUPD police logs.

– Staff Writer Sally E. Edwards can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @sallyedwards04 or on threads @sally_edwards06.

—Staff writer Asher J. Montgomery can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @asherjmont or on threads @asher_montgomery.