Anti-Israel protesters arrested for occupying, vandalizing Stanford president’s office

Campus graffiti calls for death to Israel and the US, as university heads say situation ‘crossed the line from peaceful protest to actions that threaten safety of our community’

Students walk by graffiti saying 'Death to Israel' near the office of the President at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, June 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Students walk by graffiti saying 'Death to Israel' near the office of the President at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, June 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

STANFORD, California — US police arrested 13 people at Stanford University after anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied the school president and provost’s offices early Wednesday, causing what officials described as extensive vandalism inside and outside the building.

The takeover began around dawn on the last day of spring classes at the university in California’s Silicon Valley, and ended three hours later. Some protesters barricaded themselves inside the building while others linked arms outside, The Stanford Daily reported. The group chanted “Palestine will be free, we will free Palestine.”

The detainees were escorted out of the building and loaded into law enforcement vehicles. The student newspaper said one of its reporters was among those detained.

Protest camps have sprung up on university campuses across the US and in Europe as students demand their universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that support its war, which was sparked by the Hamas terror group’s October 7 onslaught that resulted in around 1,200 people killed in Israel and 251 taken hostage, mostly civilians.

Organizers seek to amplify calls to end Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which they claim is a “genocide” against the Palestinians.

Stanford students who participated in Wednesday’s protest would be immediately suspended, and any seniors would not be allowed to graduate, university President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez said in a joint statement.

A campus maintenance worker carries a broken window from the office of the president at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, after it was vandalized by anti-Israel protesters, June 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

They said the university also removed an anti-Israel student encampment on Wednesday, which had been set up on campus on April 25, citing public safety concerns and violations of school policies.

“The situation on campus has now crossed the line from peaceful protest to actions that threaten the safety of our community,” they said, adding that demonstrators had recently tried to occupy a different building.

One law enforcement officer was lightly injured when he was shoved by protesters interfering with a transport vehicle, university spokesperson Dee Mostofi wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Other campus activities were not affected, she said.

In addition to the damage indoors, the president and provost said there was extensive graffiti on the sandstone buildings and columns of the Main Quad. Video posted on social media showed police busting in a door. Other photos showed an office desk splattered with a red liquid.

An AP journalist on campus saw walls spray-painted with political slogans calling for the destruction of the US and Israel, as well as killing police.

Students walk by graffiti saying “Death to America” near the office of the president at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, June 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

“This graffiti conveys vile and hateful sentiments that we condemn in the strongest terms,” the president and provost said, adding that it remains unclear who graffitied the university.

Sarah Lebaron, a Stanford physics student, said she didn’t think Wednesday’s demonstration and graffiti were an effective way to protest the war in Gaza or question university endowments.

“I think the goal [of the protesters] is to have Stanford divest from Israel. That is their stated goal. But I don’t see how these actions necessarily lead to that goal,” Lebaron said.

Columbia University, which was rocked by campus protests earlier this spring, agreed to take additional steps to make students feel secure on campus under a settlement reached with a Jewish student Tuesday.

The AP has recorded at least 86 incidents since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the US. More than 3,130 people have been arrested on the campuses of 65 colleges and universities. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.

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