Police make multiple arrests as Penn students attempt to launch a new encampment

PHILADELPHIA – Penn students launched a new, short-lived, pro-Palestinian encampment Friday night, leading to multiple arrests. The encampment inside the school’s Fisher-Bennett Hall came one week after Philadelphia and campus police disbanded one that had lasted a little more than two weeks and had led to 33 arrests.

Members of the Penn Gaza Solidarity Encampment announced the new installation about 8 p.m. Within the hour, police could be seen closing in. By 9:20 p.m. there were reports from the scene that police had some people in custody.

The students said they had renamed Fisher-Bennett Hall the Refaat Alareer Hall in honor of the late Palestinian poet and professor who was killed in an airstrike in Northern Gaza in December.

“A group of individuals entered Fisher-Bennett Hall on Penn’s campus and attempted to occupy it,” a school spokesperson said. “Penn Police, with support from Philadelphia Police, escorted them out and secured the building, taking several individuals into custody.”

Following the arrests, protests could be seen flowing onto 34th Street with protesters chanted things like “No more bombs with our tuition” while clapping their hands, playing small drums and waving flags.

Arms locked, a group of protesters faced police holding their shields and batons. A crowd surrounding law enforcement chanted “Who do you serve, who do you protect?” as police cars continued to close off nearby roads.

Pro-Palestinian faculty and students had held protests on campus and erected an encampment on the College Green in late April. Since the launch of that encampment, organizers have demanded that school administrators disclose the university’s investments, divest from Israel, and defend pro-Palestinian protesters and scholars.

Over the next two weeks, protesters and counter-protesters clashed, while Penn faced criticism from all sides. Some blamed the school for not dismantling the encampment; others chastised it for not supporting student protesters and their right to free speech.

University police, backed by city police, ultimately moved in early on the morning of May 10 and dismantled the encampment, arresting 33 people, nine of them students. School leaders cited “threatening, loud, and discriminatory speech and behavior,” an expansion of the encampment, and vandalism as reasons. Gov. Josh Shapiro had called for the dismantling of the encampment.

Organizers of the new encampment said it is a direct response to how Penn administration reacted to their past negotiation attempts and the College Green encampment.

“They refused to negotiate in good faith, lording threats of arrest and discipline over students and training the Penn police in ‘civil disorder’ tactics while still actively meeting with the negotiations team,” a statement from Penn Gaza Solidarity said.

Organizers noted that the encampments are the latest in a deep history between the West Philadelphia Ivy League university and antiwar demonstrations.

“These last few weeks, Penn has shown its true colors,” organizers said. “It is complicit in the oppression of people from Philly to Palestine and will silence anyone who demands change.”

The latest protest came at the start of Alumni Weekend on campus. Graduation is scheduled for Monday.

(Staff writers Susan Snyder, Michelle Myers, and Jesse Bunch contributed to this article.)

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This story was originally published May 17, 2024, 11:29 PM.