80+ Protestors Arrested at Wash U as Students Protest Ties to Boeing

Police officers from at least four agencies swarmed the campus — and didn’t hesitate to use force

Apr 27, 2024 at 11:21 pm

Police move in to arrest a group of protestors who locked their arms together on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Washington University. ZACHARY LINHARES

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The arrests came in waves, and as students at Washington University chanted for a free Palestine, others were marched away to the beat of a protest drum in the background.

Police from multiple St. Louis-area departments — including Richmond Heights Police, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police and the Washington University Police — spent hours staring down student activists praying, eating and protesting for Palestine on Wash U’s lawn.

Nearly three hours after an initial warning to disperse, officers moved in with zip ties, dragging students to the ground and ripping apart a human chain as they arrested demonstrators.

A protest medic was picked up and slammed to the ground by multiple police officers, a woman wearing a Keffiyeh was ripped from the circle of protesters and slammed down with a hooked arm around her throat by an officer, an older man with gray hair was forced face down into the ground as officers leaned onto him and zip-tied his hands, and other protesters were picked up and carried away to waiting vans.

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ZACHARY LINHARES

Police arrest a pro-Palestine protestor on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Washington University.

More than 300 Pro-Palestine protesters began a march to Washington University’s campus at 3 p.m. Saturday. Their plan was to set up an encampment upon arrival and hold the line as long as possible. By 8:50 p.m., more than 80 people had been arrested — including Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate.

In an email to students and staff, Wash U said, “It quickly became clear through the words and actions of this group that they did not have good intentions on our campus. We also felt strongly that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous. When the group began to set up a camp on the east end of campus in violation of university policy, we made the decision to tell everyone present that they needed to leave. Any individuals who refused to leave after being asked multiple times were arrested.”

The university said in the email that arrests were still being processed. “All will face charges of trespassing and some may also be charged with resisting arrest and assault, including for injuries to police officers. We are taking this matter very seriously. For those who are students, we also have initiated the university student conduct process.”

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ZACHARY LINHARES

A protestor is arrested by police on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Washington University.

The protesters are part of a movement calling for Wash U to divest from Boeing, which they say is supporting genocide in Gaza and supplying Israel with weapons. Protests on campus have been happening for weeks. At one demonstration on April 13 three students were suspended and 12 people were issued court summons.

“Israel’s genocidal campaign has fueled the murder of over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza in the last 6 months,” Resist Wash U, one of the main organizers of the protest, said in a statement with a list of demands for the university. “The same bombs Israel is dropping on Gaza are manufactured at a Boeing facility in St. Charles, Missouri. Meanwhile, Wash U continues to cultivate its longstanding partnership with Boeing.”

Penelope T. a sophomore at Wash U who declined to give her last name, was one of the organizers for the protest. She says protesters say Wash U must meet a list of demands before the protests will stop, including divesting from Boeing and dropping the charges against other student protesters.

“It’s very clear how horrendous all that’s happening, all that Israel is committing,” she says. “The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is continuing to slaughter people.”

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ZACHARY LINHARES

Demonstrators lock arms in front of a temporary encampment on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Washington University.

Shortly after protestors set up the encampment on campus, police arrived and gave an order to disperse, declaring the assembly unlawful. Activists then moved the encampment across from the Kemper Art Museum. Police gave another order to disperse and stared down protesters for hours before making their move.

In addition to the Green Party’s Stein, protesters were joined by St. Louis Aldermanic President Megan Green and Ward 7 Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier. These three walked to the police line and asked to meet with Wash U’s administration to de-escalate the situation before arrests were made. They were forced back by police and administrators refused to cross the line to speak with them.

“We are here to support the students who are standing up for our highest American values, for our democracy, for an end to this genocide which is unacceptable and a blight on this nation,” Stein told RFT. “It must be stopped, the American people want it stopped.

Stein was later arrested by police in one of the first waves. Sonnier yelled at police, begging them to stop laughing as they continued to break up the demonstration, and an officer with a megaphone threatened to arrest Green if she did not leave.

“I will leave once all my students are booked and I know where they are going so I can get them out of jail,” Green told the officer with the megaphone.

“It’s definitely time for y’all [Wash U] to pay taxes,” Sonnier added.

“I’ve been to a lot of protests over my lifetime,” Green said in a post to X (formerly Twitter) after the protest was broken up. “This was one of the most excessive uses of force I’ve ever seen. Six police departments responded to students chanting because they want the genocide in Gaza to stop and the university to divest from those supporting war.”

A common statement activists echoed during the demonstration was that “there are no more universities left in Gaza.” As university students, the protestors say they want to send a message to Wash U that supporting the ongoing attacks, and even remaining silent, is unacceptable.

“There is nothing left in Gaza. Who is going to rebuild it?” Sara Bannoura, a leader with the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, says. “We are here because the war is still happening. We are here to remind people that St. Louis stands for peace.”

Protestors intended for the encampment to stand for days, or until Wash U met their demands. There was a makeshift food tent, a medical tent and a tent for relieving yourself (complete with cat litter). Protesters instead were forced off campus just before 9 p.m.

After six or seven waves of arrests, police formed a wall and pushed members of the media and the remaining elected officials off campus and back onto the public sidewalk near Skinker.

Protestors say they plan to keep coming back.