Police disband pro-Palestine protest and encampment during alumni weekend

, , and | News Editors and Managing News Editor

Students, alumni, and St. Louis residents held a pro-Palestine protest outside Brookings Hall on Alumni Weekend. (Sam Powers | Student Life)

As part of a pro-Palestine demonstration led by around 50 Washington University community members and St. Louis residents, a group of protestors set up an encampment that was shut down by the WashU Police Department (WUPD), April 20.

The protest took place during WashU’s annual Alumni Weekend on the Brookings steps and lawn.  Multiple alumni participated in the demonstration, while others approached the protestors and condemned their efforts. 

At 11:30 a.m., the protestors gathered for an art build to make signs with various pro-Palestine messages, including “Alums say divest from Boeing” and “Defund the war machine.” Two hours later, they formed a semicircle at the top of the Brookings steps to begin their rally, during which seven individuals gave speeches calling for WashU to divest from Boeing. 

Anjali Vishwanath, class of 2019 and current Columbia University graduate student, gave the first speech at the rally and shared her perspective about the months of tense discourse on college campuses surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.  

“After months of targeted repression of pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist speech, [and] university refusal to divest from companies that are actively contributing to genocide…we have reached a boiling point,” Vishwanath said. “We are seeing students all over the country mobilizing.” 

Vishwanath told the audience that she had been arrested and suspended from Columbia just days earlier for participating in the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the school’s campus. 

“It has been an honor to be arrested and suspended for Palestine,” she said. 

In her speech, Vishwanath said that she is not proud to be a WashU alumnus. 

“To my alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis, shame on you,” she said. 

She also commended the students who participated in the pro-Palestine protest that disrupted Admitted Students’ Day on April 13. 

“I am so proud of the students who disrupted the event at Graham Chapel,” she said. “For continuing down this path, for standing up for basic human rights, demanding divestment, and showing solidarity with Palestine.”

Junior Andrew De Las Alas spoke at the rally about the importance of university divestment from Boeing. 

“We have a special responsibility to resist [this] genocide because it is being armed in our own backyards,” De Las Alas said. “Twenty minutes from us, a factory is making bombs that will be dropped on children…we call for an end to death, an end to violence, and an end to our role in it.”

De Las Alas also questioned the intentions of WashU’s “In St. Louis for St. Louis” initiative, which aims to use the school’s resources to benefit the St. Louis community. 

“Chancellor Martin told us that ‘The community and the university grow together,’” De Las Alas said. “But who is the community that our Chancellor wants to serve? Look at the Boeing Center inside the business school…look at who [the University] continues to protect.” 

Towards the end of the rally, Tobie Soumekh, a graduate from the class of 2019, walked into the middle of the protest. Soumekh interrupted a chant to communicate her experiences as a Jewish-Iranian woman.

“I am the daughter of an Iranian-Jewish man whose family was killed in Iran for being Jewish,” Soumekh said. “I want you to be sensitive toward everybody’s stories and where everybody comes from, because there is a reason Israel exists.”

Soumekh was then interrupted by protestors chanting “Israel is a Zionist state” and “Genocide.” As three protestors approached Soumekh and talked to her, she began to look visibly upset and walked toward her friends who were waiting nearby.

Soumekh told Student Life that the individuals who came up to speak to her said that she was wrong. 

“They said I’m Jewish and ‘As a Jew, you’re wrong.’ They said I was lying,” Soumekh said.

Soumekh said that she was on campus for her five-year reunion and did not know the demonstration was taking place. Upon seeing the protestors, she felt compelled to speak based on her personal experiences.

“My Jewish identity is incredibly close to my heart because of the people [who] are the reason why I’m here today,” Soumekh said. “My ancestors and my family were targeted for their identity.” 

Soumekh said that during her time at WashU, she felt safe to openly express her Jewish identity. She was disheartened to hear that Jewish organizations on campus, specifically Chabad, now have security concerns due to their Jewish affiliations. She said this speaks to a resurgence of antisemitic sentiments that has happened since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Protestors interact with a Washington University alumnus. (Sam Powers | Student Life)

“I was proud of my family’s story of escaping [persecution], and now we’re living that all over again,” Soumekh said.

As the speeches came to an end, the protestors began setting up tents on the grassy area at the top of the Brookings stairs around 3 p.m. They also organized containers of food, bottles of water, and other supplies in preparation for spending the night. 

A St. Louis resident unaffiliated with WashU, who wished to stay anonymous, explained the purpose of the protestors’ planned encampment to Student Life. 

“When you go to a rally or protest, there’s usually a finite ending point,” they said. “So [the encampment] is a different way to be together, a place where community members can come through, support, bring food, and we can have music. We’re going to have programming here where we teach and learn from each other.”

Soon after the tents were set up, WUPD Sergeant Zohaib Khan read a prepared statement around 3:20 pm ordering the protestors to vacate the premises. 

“I hereby declare that this is an unlawful assembly and command all those assembled at Brookings steps to immediately disperse,” Khan said through a megaphone. “If you do not do so, you may be arrested or subject to other police action, which could include the use of force, which may inflict pain or result in serious injury. If you remain in the area, as I just described, regardless of your purpose, you will be in violation of the law.” 

Protestors set up an encampment with the intention of staying overnight before the Washington University Police Department told them to leave. (Sam Powers | Student Life)

The protestors responded to WUPD’s orders by moving their tents and supplies to the lower Brookings lawn.

Approximately 20 minutes later, Richmond County Police and St. Louis Metro Police transport units arrived and parked on the south side of Brookings. Around six police cars, including one from the Clayton Police Department, were also present at the scene. The police backed transport vehicles close to the protest area and arranged themselves in a line directly facing the roughly 25 remaining protestors. Additional officers gathered at the top of the Brookings stairs with their bikes.    

WUPD Chief of Police Angela Coonce asked nearby spectators to leave the area, saying that officers would not be able to tell who was affiliated with the event and who wasn’t.

Kirk Dougher, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Support and Well-being, went to speak with the protest participants. Khan then made a second statement at 4:00 p.m. through a bullhorn asking for the protestors to remove their tents and vacate the premises.

Julie Flory, Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications, later told Student Life via email that the tents were not authorized by WashU event guidelines and that the protestors’ refusal to disperse violated the Demonstrations and Disruption policy

“We asked them multiple times to take the tents down and leave, and they refused,” Flory said. “The Demonstrations and Disruption policy prohibits ‘refusing to leave a building or space that has been declared closed or upon request of a proper authority,’ so we told them they had to leave if they didn’t want to be arrested.” 

After WUPD made the second statement, the protestors huddled together before dispersing from Brookings. Before they left, roughly an hour after the encampment began, one protester said, “We will leave, but protests will continue.” 

Flory told Student Life about how the University plans to address potential future protests on campus. 

“We will continue to allow gatherings that follow University policies and […] shut down those that don’t,” Flory said. 

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