Stanford announces suspension of students after protest occupation leaves police officer injured and causes ‘significant damage’

Stanford University plans to immediately suspend students who were among 13 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after a brief occupation of the president’s office on Wednesday morning. University officials said activists illegally entered a building, injured a police officer and caused “significant damage” to buildings in the historic courtyard.

Before 6 a.m. on the last day of the spring semester, a small group of students and alumni barricaded themselves in President Richard Saller’s office and vowed that they would not leave the office until the administration met their demands for divestment from Israel.

The occupation lasted less than two hours. At around 7:30 a.m. – while protesters outside chanted “Free, free Palestine” – police officers broke down a door with a crowbar and entered the building.

By 8 a.m., officers from the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office and Stanford University’s Dept. of Public Safety had cleared the building of protesters. Stanford University announced that 13 students were arrested, the building was cleared, and a public safety officer was injured by protesters who shoved the officer while “interfering with a transportation vehicle.”

The Stanford Daily reported that one of its reporters was among those arrested.

A statement from the university said the activists had “illegally entered the building” which houses the offices of the president and rector.

“We are appalled that our students have chosen to take this action and will work with law enforcement to ensure they face the full consequences permitted by law,” said university spokesperson Dee Mostofi.

“All students arrested will be immediately suspended and if any of them are seniors, they will be denied graduation,” Mostofi added. “We have consistently stressed the importance of constructive engagement and peaceful protest when there is disagreement. This was not a peaceful protest and actions like those that took place this morning have no place at Stanford.”

The protesting students, in turn, claimed that the police had used excessive force.

Liberate Stanford, an autonomous group of Stanford University students that organized the occupation, accused police of “violently assaulting a peaceful student protester” as officers prepared to enter the building. It posted a video on Instagram showing a deputy in helmet and tactical gear pushing a student back with a baton.

After the students were arrested, the university closed the activists’ camp at White Plaza, which authorities had allowed to continue despite saying it violated university policies on overnight camping, equal access to the plaza and the use of sound amplifiers.

“The situation on campus has now crossed the line from peaceful protests to actions that threaten the safety of our community,” Saller and Rector Jenny Martinez said in a statement. “In the interest of public safety, the camp has been cleared.”

Wednesday’s occupation began before dawn, when students barricaded themselves in the building and renamed it “Dr. Adnan’s Office” in honor of Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, a leading Palestinian surgeon who died in an Israeli prison camp in April.

“STUDENT INT1FADA IS GROWING,” Liberate Stanford wrote in a statement on Instagram early Friday morning as the building was occupied. “We refuse to leave until the Stanford administration and board of directors meet our demands and take action to address their role in enabling and profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

The protesters – who describe themselves as an autonomous group of students not affiliated with any official student group – called on Stanford to bring the divestment bill, put forward by Stanford Against Apartheid in Palestine, to the next Board of Trustees meeting. Saller recommended supporting the bill, disclosing finances beginning in fiscal year 2022, and dropping all disciplinary and criminal charges against pro-Palestinian students arrested during previous protests.

“If these demands are met, we will leave your office, President Saller,” said an activist wearing sunglasses, a mask and a keffiyeh, sitting at a wooden desk in the building, in a video posted on Instagram by Liberate Stanford.

“I want you to think about your legacy,” she added. “No one will remember your historical research or your eight months as president. What they will remember is your silence and your complicity in this genocide.”

After the students occupied the president’s office, about 50 students – most of them dressed in black and with their faces covered in keffiyeh – surrounded the building among the poor in solidarity with the occupation of the building.

Some held up a banner that read: “While Gaza bleeds, Stanford hesitates. Divestment. Disclosure. Amnesty.”

“We love you,” the protesters shouted, cheering the arrested activists as they were escorted out of the building by police with their hands handcuffed behind their backs.

“We see you! We love you!” they chanted. “We will be here to free you!”

Disagreements quickly arose among protesters after sandstone pillars and buildings on the university’s historic main square were sprayed and defaced with slogans such as “DE@TH 2 ISR@HELL,” “Kill Cops,” and “PIGS TASTE BEST DEAD.”

In a statement, Liberate Stanford condemned activists who it claimed “took it upon themselves to spray paint or damage the exteriors of these buildings.”

“These are not the principles we hold, and these actions are disrespectful to the souls of Palestinians who have lost their lives in their just struggle,” Liberate Stanford wrote. “The intention of this movement is not to create unnecessary labor for service workers, and we refuse to let our uprising be hijacked by unknown agitators.”

The university administration also spoke out against the graffiti, saying it conveyed “disgusting and hateful feelings that we condemn in the strongest possible terms.”

The occupation followed months of protests and negotiations between Stanford University officials and pro-Palestinian activists. Last year, protesters set up a sprawling camp on White Plaza dubbed the “Sit-in to Stop Genocide,” which became the longest sit-in in the university’s history until the administration issued a camping ban in February “out of concern for the health and safety of our students.”

In April, activists set up another camp in White Plaza. On May 20, a small group of protesters attempted to occupy a mechanical engineering building, blocking the entrances with barricades and furniture. Saller told the Faculty Senate that students involved in that occupation faced “immediate suspension and inability to attend graduation” and possible criminal charges.

Sign up for Essential California to get news, features and recommendations from the LA Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.