The protesters caused ‘extensive damage to the interior and exterior of the building,’ campus police said.
The Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) on Wednesday arrested 13 anti-Israel protesters who broke into university president Richard Saller’s office.
“Law enforcement has arrested 13 individuals who unlawfully entered Building 10 this morning. The building has been secured by the Department of Public Safety,” SUDPS announced in an alert sent Wednesday morning, obtained by National Review. “There has been extensive damage to the interior and exterior of the building, and there will be no entry to the building for the rest of the day.”
Stanford confirmed the contents of the alert to NR and added that “a public safety officer was injured after being shoved by protesters who were interfering with a transport vehicle.”
“We are appalled that our students chose to take this action and we will work with law enforcement to ensure that they face the full consequences allowed by law. All arrested students will be immediately suspended and, in case any of them are seniors, they will not be allowed to graduate,” assistant vice president for external communications Dee Mostofi told NR. “We have consistently emphasized the need for constructive engagement and peaceful protest when there is a disagreement in views. This was not peaceful protest and actions such as what occurred this morning have no place at Stanford.”
Protesters spray-painted slogans like “kill cops” and “the resistance” on the ground outside, according to the Stanford Daily, the university’s student-run newspaper. In addition to the 13 who barricaded themselves in the office, 50 or so others surrounded the building, arms linked.
A photograph circulating on social media shows the words “F–K AMERIKKKA” spray-painted over a plaque memorializing American soldiers killed in the line of duty.
Wednesday morning was not the first time anti-Israel protesters at Stanford occupied a building. On May 20, demonstrators entered and prevented students from leaving a science building before being removed by police. A student in that building told the Stanford Daily at the time that he “felt trapped between the protesters in the street and the protesters in the hallway.”
Saller said after protesters entered that building that occupying a building is unacceptable.
“The attempted takeover of Building 570 really crossed the line, in the sense that it threatened the students who were working in the building,” Saller told the Stanford Daily, noting that students had written to him saying the presence of chemicals and heavy machinery in the building made the situation immediately unsafe. “That crossed the line into physical harm and threat of physical harm, so we took stronger disciplinary action in that case.”