At least 20 people were arrested on the University of Texas at Dallas campus Wednesday after a student-led encampment in support of Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
After what was a peaceful protest throughout the day, armed officers including Texas Department of Public Safety troopers equipped with face shields, batons and zip ties entered the crowd and began making arrests, according to witness accounts and live video streamed from the scene. It's not clear what prompted the arrests.
A UT Dallas spokesperson confirmed the university called outside law enforcement, "in an effort to ensure the safety of our students, faculty and staff."
Protestors were given written notice to take down the encampment early in the day, according to UT Dallas communications director Brittany Magelssen.
"Individuals may peacefully assemble in the common outdoor areas of campus to exercise their right to free speech, but they may not construct an encampment or block pathways," UT Dallas communications director Brittany Magelssen wrote in an email to KERA Wednesday evening. "In the last six months, there have been several peaceful protests on the UT Dallas campus. The UT Dallas Police Department and area law enforcement partners are continuing to monitor the situation."
Texas DPS did not return a request for comment Wednesday.
Twenty people were booked in the Collin County Jail Wednesday night, according to the Collin County Sheriff's Office. Assistant Chief Deputy Jeff Price told an assembled crowd of more than 100 people outside the jail the arrested protestors would likely face charges of criminal trespass at a minimum.
All 20 would spend the night in the jail, according to Price.
"We respect your right to protest, we have no issue with that," Price told the crowd. "What we have issue with are people who broke the law today, who came into the Collin County jail now. They are in our custody, and they will be magistrated in the morning."
Among those gathered outside was Nidaa Lafi, 22, who graduated from the university last year. Lafi said she witnessed many of the arrests at UT Dallas, and described law enforcement on the scene as "aggressive."
“They were looking to escalate," Lafi said. "They came with riot gear. Why are they in riot gear? There was no riot, right? Students built a liberated space on their campus.”
Protestors at UT Dallas set up the encampment to demand the university divest from corporations that have ties to Israel's war in Gaza. In a press release sent by the Dallas chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, the group accused corporations like Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrop Gruman and Boeing of facilitating “endless war, death and destruction in Palestine and around the world.” Protestors also want the university to formally call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Some students were up as early as 4 a.m. setting up camp in the University of Texas at Dallas Chess Plaza — which the assembled group referred to as the "Gaza Liberation Plaza." Tents, folding chairs and portable canopies began to pop up throughout Wednesday as the encampment grew.
As an alumna, Lafi said she stood by the students rejecting those corporations and wanted to hold her alma mater accountable. Instead, she said, the university's move to call in law enforcement escalated the situation.
“Administrations have a responsibility to protect their students," she said. "We did not see any of that today."
In addition to the Collin County Sheriff's Office and Texas DPS, the UT Dallas Police Department were also involved in the law enforcement response.
Kristin Lowman, a Dallas Police Department spokesperson, said the department did not assist with breaking up the protest. The Dallas County Sheriff's Office was also not present.
Earlier in the day, Noor Saleh, a UTD business management junior from Palestine, said the encampment was their way of engaging with students to talk to them about the Palestinian people and liberation. Saleh, who is part of SJP, said they planned for the encampment to remain and for students to come and go as they please.
"We are committed to staying here until the administration meets our demands," she said. "We will not be threatened, we will continue to mobilize."
Jade Steinberg, president of Hillel at UTD, came to campus Wednesday afternoon after receiving texts from Jewish students on campus concerned about Wednesday's encampment.
"My goal was to, you know, just find a way for people to exist peacefully on campus, especially with [the protestors], they have their movement, they have their cause, but there's also, we just want to go to school," Steinberg said.
UTD's encampment follows similar encampments launched across the country, most notably at UT Austin, Columbia University and the University of Southern California.
[MORE | Pro-Palestinian protesters in Texas are calling for universities to divest. Here's what that means]
The latest conflict between Israel and Hamas began Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, taking about 250 people hostage and killing about 1,200 Israelis. Since then, more than 34,000 Palestinianshave been killed in Gaza, two-thirds of whom were women or children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Student protests, marches and encampments have spread across the U.S. in recent weeks. Last week, students at UT Austin protesting for divestment faced off with state troopers, who arrested 57 people last week and another 79 on Monday. Many have already had their charges dropped.
In a response to a social media post showing Texas DPS troopers arriving on UTA's campus, Gov. Greg Abbott said the protestors "belong in jail." Abbott came under fire for his comments after critics pointed out he signed a bill in 2019 lawmakers said would ensure free speech on college campuses.
Travis County Attorney Delia Garza said on Tuesday that the large volume of arrests put a delay on "normal, everyday processes."
On Tuesday around 1,000 people showed up for a protest and march at the University of North Texas. Unlike other protests around the country, the UNT demonstration ended without incident after two hours.
For students like Adam Mohamed, a 21-year-old UT Dallas senior who stood among those gathered outside the Collin County jail Wednesday night, those student protests are a show of solidarity with Gazan students whose universities have been targeted by Israeli air strikes — what the United Nations has referred to as "scholasticide."
"As students in America, we are using our privilege here — and it is very much a privilege of ours — to use our First Amendment right to express our solidarity with them," Mohamed said.
KERA News reporters Nathan Collins and Zara Amaechi contributed to this report.
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