University of Florida Comes Down Hard On Protesters: 'Not A Day care'
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 29: Hundreds of students are gathered at San Francisco State University (SFSU) to protest Israeli attacks on Gaza, in Stanford, California, United States on April 29, 2024. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The University of Florida has said it is “not a day care” after nine people were arrested during pro-Palestinian protests on campus on Monday.
Video footage posted on Instagram showed what appeared to be state troopers arresting protesters on the Gainesville campus.
The charges range from failure to obey a lawful command and resisting without violence to trespass after warning, The Tampa Bay Times reported. The newspaper reported that three of the arrested protesters had been sitting in chairs—which the university included on a list of prohibited items and activities during protests last week.
In a statement, university spokesperson Steve Orlando said the protesters had been warned that “clearly prohibited activities” would result in a trespassing order, interim suspensions and banishment from campus for three years.
“This is not complicated. The University of Florida is not a day care, and we do not treat protesters like children—they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they’ll face the consequences,” Orlando said.
“For many days, we have patiently told protesters—many of whom are outside agitators—that they were able to exercise their right to free speech and free assembly. And we also told them that clearly prohibited activities would result in a trespassing order from [the University Police Department] (barring them from all university properties for three years) and an interim suspension from the university.
“For days, UPD patiently and consistently reiterated the rules. Today, individuals who refused to comply were arrested after UPD gave multiple warnings and multiple opportunities to comply.”
The University Police Department has been contacted for comment via its website.
Student encampments to protest Israel’s war in Gaza have popped up on college campuses across the country since more than 100 demonstrators were arrested at Columbia University after university officials called in police to clear a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on April 18. Early Tuesday, dozens of protesters took over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after the university said it had started suspending students who defied an ultimatum to leave an encampment on the campus by a Monday afternoon deadline.
Students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the war in Gaza. The war began after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, when militants killed about 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostages. In the ensuring war, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Associated Press reported, citing the local health ministry.
Universities have sought to shut down demonstrations and clear encampments, and those in Republican-led states like Texas and Florida appear to be cracking down hardest. The number of arrests nationwide has neared 1,000 since the initial arrests at Columbia.
At the University of Texas in Austin on Monday, campus police officers and state troopers in riot gear arrested at least 40 protesters who had erected tents on the campus.
“No encampments will be allowed,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. “Instead, arrests are being made.”
The Republican governor came under fire for calling in state troopers to crack down on student protesters on the university’s campus last week. More than 50 students were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing, but those charges were all dropped.
Update 4/30/24, 5:45 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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