25 arrested at UVA protest, school says outsiders involved

Twenty-five people have been arrested for trespassing at the University of Virginia, according to multiple reports.

In a statement, school president Jim Ryan says demonstrators were told the tents and canopies they erected were prohibited under school policy and were asked to remove them. Virginia State Police were asked to help with enforcement when attempts by university police “to resolve the situation were met with physical confrontation and attempted assault.”

“This afternoon, the police declared an unlawful assembly, issued no trespass orders to those who refused to disperse, and arrested those who continued to refuse dispersal,” Ryan says.

He calls the episode “upsetting, frightening, and sad,” blaming a small group of rule-breakers for the trouble and claiming, without evidence, that they included people unaffiliated with the school.

Laura Goldblatt, an assistant professor of English and global studies who has been helping student demonstrators, tells The Washington Post that as police moved in, students were pushed to the ground, pulled by their arms and sprayed with a chemical irritant.

“Our concern since this began has been the safety of our students. Students are not safe right now,” Goldblatt says.