Why did UVA call state police to deal with a pro-Palestine protest? • Charlottesville Tomorrow

Beyond the headlines

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

On Saturday afternoon, Virginia state troopers in riot gear along with Albemarle sheriff’s deputies moved onto the University of Virginia campus with semi-automatic weapons to break up what had been a small and peaceful protest.

Why the escalation? That’s a question we’ll be asking UVA leaders this afternoon.

At 12:15 p.m., UVA President Jim Ryan and UVA Police Chief Timothy Longo will host a “digital town hall” to “provide an update and answer questions about Saturday’s protest near the UVA Chapel that prompted police to conduct an unlawful Declaring a meeting and arresting demonstrators was not possible.” The town hall will be broadcast via livestream. To ask a question, participants must register in advance.

Our main questions for Ryan and Longo are: Who decided to create a militarized police force, when was the decision made and why?

After days of peaceful student protests, the UVA president said, “It became necessary to rely on the assistance of the Virginia State Police” to clear an encampment

Ryan addressed those questions in a news release Saturday, saying that “a small group decided today to voluntarily break the rules after being given many opportunities to comply, and then they “I sincerely wish it were otherwise, but this repeated and deliberate refusal to comply with appropriate rules designed to ensure the safety, operations and rights of the entire university community left us with no choice, than to maintain the neutral application and enforcement of these rules.”

This response was quite unsatisfactory for many participants in the protest – especially faculty members who were actively trying to maintain peace between the protesters and the police.

To understand it, you first need a little background knowledge. As the demonstration formed last Tuesday, UVA police made it clear that protesters could stay as long as they followed UVA guidelines. That meant no signs on trees or buildings, no megaphones and no tents.

From Friday: A days-long pro-Palestine protest on the UVA campus shows no sign of ending

But on Friday it started to rain – and the demonstrators set up tents.

Longo called on protesters Friday to take down the tents. They didn’t do that. He came back on Saturday morning and told them again. They didn’t do that. He told them again on Saturday afternoon. They didn’t do that.

Now we couldn’t directly ask the student protesters why they chose to leave the tents open. During the day-long demonstration, they had a rule not to speak directly to the media or the police. But the faculty in charge of her told Editor-in-Chief Angilee Shah that they initially suggested her because of the rain and left her to express their displeasure with UVA officials’ response to a list of demands Designed the day before.

Some of those faculty members communicated with Longo until Saturday morning. Longo had told them that the protesters would be charged over the tents and that University Facilities Maintenance would take them down.

That didn’t happen. On Saturday afternoon, some UVA police officers attempted to dismantle the tents. About ten protesters crossed their arms and tried to physically block police from getting to them. There was some kind of scuffle. Police said one of the protesters tried to attack them. Cavalier Daily reporters obtained video of the incidentalthough from the angle of the shot it is impossible to see exactly what happened.

According to Cavalier Daily reporters on the scene, this appears to have been the turning point.

Check out our report here for detailed accounts of what happened next, including faculty members’ desperate attempts to ensure the safety of protesters and spectators. For our reporting, we partner with student journalists at The Cavalier Daily who have covered the protests and received firsthand accounts of many of the facts you have read in this newsletter and in our report. You can read some of their reports here.

If you can’t make it to City Hall today, stay tuned. We will have information about what is being said.

Thank you for reading,
Jessie Higgins, Editor-in-Chief

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