7 Duke students among those arrested at UNC camp

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Seven Duke students were among those arrested April 30 at the University of North Carolina’s Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the Chapel Hill campus.

According to records obtained by The Chronicle from the UNC Public Records Office, eight members of the Duke community were arrested by UNC police between 6 and 6:30 a.m. April 30 at Polk Place, where the encampment was set up.

The eight Duke members are included in the total number of 36 protesters arrested, paraded and detained by UNC police at Gerrard Hall on the UNC campus on the morning of April 30. Six of the 36 were transported at 9 a.m. to the Orange County Courthouse, where they were released on bond with a written promise to appear in court at a later date. The 30 people still detained on campus were released on site within a few hours.

The Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment began April 26 as a joint effort by the UNC, Duke and North Carolina State University chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine. Participants’ demands included recognition of what they describe as “the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” full transparency of UNC investments, divestment from companies they say are “complicit in this genocide,” and the Ending UNC’s study abroad programs in Israel, according to an April 26 Instagram post from UNC SJP.

The encampment was entering its fifth day when the UNC administration called in police forces to force the removal of protesters from Polk Place.

UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and Principal Christopher Clemens had issued a statement at 5:30 a.m. April 30 calling on protesters to “remove all tents, tables and other items” by 6 a.m “To leave Polk Place.” Law enforcement – including a number A group of officers from other North Carolina universities arrived at 6 a.m. and began arresting those who remained on the field.

In addition to charges of trespassing, resisting, delaying and obstructing, two of the six people brought before the judge were also charged with assault on a government official, which is a Class A1 misdemeanor under North Carolina law – the most serious class. They are not affiliated with Duke.

The state of North Carolina is scheduled to arraign the six protesters on two or more charges at the Orange County Courthouse later this month.

The six remaining arrestees with ties to Duke were each charged with one count of second-degree trespassing. These include a professor, two bachelor’s students, two doctoral students and a graduate of the class of 2024.

The six Duke members with a subpoena are scheduled to be tried by the state of North Carolina in July – three at the Chapel Hill Courthouse and three at the Orange County Courthouse.

“…(O)n April 30, the UNC Administrator used police officers from across North Carolina to violently raid our camp while we slept, resulting in the detention and arrest of 36 of us from across Duke, UNC, NC State, Meredith College and … led numerous community organizations,” the Duke-affiliated detainees, who declined to comment individually, wrote in a May 15 email to The Chronicle.

“…We condemn the normalization of police violence and repression on our campuses and in our public spaces. At the same time, we recognize that this violence pales in comparison to the horrors that Palestinians in Gaza are currently facing,” they added, reiterating their calls for Duke to “disclose and demand (and demand) an immediate and permanent ceasefire ). .”

Duke administration did not respond to The Chronicle’s request for comment about the arrests, a possible violation of the Community Standard or other university code of conduct, or the participation of Duke students in the camp.

Of the other 28 people arrested who are not associated with Duke, 10 are students at UNC-Chapel Hill, two are UNC alumni, three are students at other North Carolina universities and 13 have unknown connections.

Duke Academics and Staff for Justice in Palestine organized a fundraiser in support of the 36 arrested protesters, which received over $50,000 in donations as of May 18. The organization “awards funds primarily to arrested UNC students” who were suspended on May 1, but noted that the funds “would also be used to support any arrestees when material needs arise.”

The consequences of the camp

Following the early morning arrests, police cleared Polk Place of protesters at 7 a.m. and removed “significant debris” shortly thereafter, UNC officials said later that afternoon. At 9 a.m., barricades were erected around the flagpole in the center of the square

Around noon, protesters gathered again at Polk Place for another demonstration, with student organizers chanting and giving speeches.

Around 2 p.m., several students removed the barricades around the flagpole and replaced the American flag with a Palestinian flag. Later, Roberts restored the American flag, flanked by police officers who forcibly removed students guarding the flagpole.

Operations on campus began at 3:16 p.m. under Condition 2 of Adverse Conditions, meaning classes were canceled for the remainder of the day and non-mandatory operations were suspended.

After the lockdown was announced, students largely dispersed, but over 100 students remained in the area in and around Polk Place for the next few hours. Some students carrying Israeli flags gathered on the back steps of the South Building for a small counter-protest against students holding a placard that read, “From Gaza to Greensboro, we need revolution.”

The UNC administration faced public backlash over its handling of the camp.

Shortly after the April 30 arrests, several student groups from across the state released a statement on Instagram condemning the government’s decision to deploy police forces.

UNC students further expressed their disappointment after university officials closed Campus Y — a building that houses over 30 student-led social justice committees — following the camp. The building reopened on May 6th.

By May 18, 880 UNC faculty members signed a letter addressed to Roberts and Clemens calling the university’s April 30 actions a “degradation of the university’s noble traditions of freedom of speech and expression and respect for the right to protest of the people.” Students “condemned.” They demanded the lifting of all student suspensions, the return of student possessions confiscated from the camp, and the removal of the barricades around the flagpole at Polk Place.

Eight council members representing Chapel Hill and Carrboro also criticized the university’s response, releasing a statement on May 1 “strongly condemning this overreaction by the UNC administration” and calling on Nieman to drop all charges against those involved.

Not all community reactions to the UNC administration’s actions were negative. On May 1, a GoFundMe page was started by community members in support of the UNC brothers who “defended their (American) flag” during the demonstration. The page – which is no longer accepting new donations – has been capped at $515,517, and the funds will first be used to throw the brothers a “world-class party” and then donate to charities “consistent with the the patriotic theme of the fundraising campaign”.

The events at UNC are not an isolated incident, as encampments have become more common on college campuses across the country – many of which have resulted in hundreds of student arrests.

The movement began at Columbia University, where students pitched tents on the university’s South Lawn on April 17. Columbia President Minouche Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to arrest 108 students the next day. Tensions between students, university administration and local law enforcement have escalated in the weeks since, with more arrests, suspensions and the occupation of Hamilton Hall by students.

Many universities have taken a similar approach to Columbia, with hundreds of students arrested in pro-Palestinian camps at Emerson College, the University of California, Los Angeles and dozens of other campuses in recent weeks. However, some administrations – including Brown University – have responded to the demands of some students, prompting protesters to disperse their encampments.

Zoe Kolenovsky
| News editor

Zoe Kolenovsky is a Trinity sophomore and news editor for Volume 120 of The Chronicle.