Pro-Palestine demonstrators briefly Occupy Institute of Politics (IOP) on South Woodlawn Street on Friday, May 17, to protest the war in Gaza and the presence of the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) on the South Side, among other issues.
the Building occupation The march was sparked by an afternoon rally in Midway Plaisance, which was promoted online by the student coalition UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP) but organized by a group of “independent alumni.” Less than half an hour later, UCPD officers entered the IOP and protesters quickly exited the building. The demonstrators then gathered in front of the IOP and later marched to the home of university president Paul Alivisatos.
Friday's events came nearly two weeks after police I raided the camp It was arranged to major quartet by Ukip.
These measures witnessed an intense security presence in the area, but no one was arrested. At least two dozen Chicago Police Department (CPD) and UCPD vehicles were present throughout the evening. Some UCPD officers were equipped with riot gear including shields and helmets. CPD officers observed the building being taken over and gathered from the street and reported maroon They were at the scene in a support role. Police cars closed traffic on South Woodlawn Street until 5:30 p.m
The building occupation began around 4:30 p.m. and protesters gathered at Midway and marched north on South Woodlawn Street until they reached the IOP. The demonstrators then entered the building with chairs, banners and flags. They locked the doors, secured some with a polyester ratchet strap, and spray-painted the building's security cameras. They also tried to block the side entrances using garbage containers taken from neighboring apartments.
While in the building, demonstrators hung Palestinian flags and banners calling for Palestinian liberation and calling for an end to gentrification on the windows and roof of the IOP. Protesters also hung a piñata-style doll of Alivisatos from a tree in front of the IOP.
Several student organizers asserted that the occupation was planned and carried out by an independent group of protesters not affiliated with UCUP, the group that organized the Quad camp.
By 5 p.m., UCPD officers entered the IOP through the front doors and windows on the north side of the building. More than a dozen demonstrators emerged from the windows of the second floor of the building. While the police were evacuating the building, the police were evacuating the building maroon I heard protesters screaming in the backyard and alley. It is unclear when the last demonstrator left the building.
Shortly after 5 p.m., protesters set up two tents on the front lawn of the International Peace Institute. About 200 demonstrators gathered there, chanting and singing. At approximately 5:30 p.m., UCPD escorted IOP Director and former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp from the building.
IOP Communications Director Kuran Addo later said maroon That Heitkamp had a 20-minute conversation with protesters before UCPD escorted her from the building.
“It was respectful,” Addo said. “At no time was she coerced or detained against her will. She eventually left the building and the police evacuated the building.”
When Heitkamp asked the demonstrators why they were occupying the nonpartisan institute, the demonstrators responded: “Everyone has to choose their side.”
Via the Telegram messaging app channel “Disrupt U of Chicago,” the occupation organizers sent out a statement describing the goals and mission of their takeover. The statement, titled “Bring the Uprising Home,” featured “a crew of demonstrators who grabbed the cane of Basil al-Araj, formerly known as the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.”
Basil Al-Araj is a Palestinian activist, writer, and author. In 2016, the Palestinian Authority arrested him and charged him with planning attacks against Israel. A unit of the Israeli police forces killing Al-Araj during a gun battle in 2017 while they were trying to enter his house.
“We have liberated the Institute of Politics — a fertile ground for politicians, bureaucrats and nonprofit staff alike to learn to say the right things while wreaking violence and destruction on oppressed and colonized peoples,” the statement read. is reading.
“We are targeting the University of Chicago (sic) for its current complicity in the Palestinian genocide and its past: inventing neoliberal economics, empowering the Chicago Boys to be the puppet masters of the bloody authoritarian rule of the Pinochet regime in Chile and beyond, creating the first nuclear reactor, violently displacing and surveilling black communities.” Through the country's largest private police force of the UCPD.
The second part of the statement, entitled “Statement of Principles from the Liberated Reed of Basil al-Araj,” included six points.
The first point stated: “We must escalate our actions against all governments, institutions, and companies that participate in, benefit from, and enable genocide.”
“We have nothing to gain by working with the government, the police or the administration. We don't negotiate. We do not share information about each other's identities. We do not seek permission to act. We depend on each other – not on the state in any form – for radical care, safety and support.
At approximately 6:30 p.m., UCPD Chief Kyle Bowman made a statement about the situation to maroon.
“The CPD is securing the area, allowing protesters to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights,” Bowman said. “Currently, officers are surveying the damage within university property and will decide whether or not to clear the area.”
The university made a statement to maroon At around 7 pm
“At approximately 4:40 p.m. on Friday, a group of masked protesters illegally occupied the Institute of Politics building on South Woodlawn Street at the University of Chicago,” the statement read. “Protesters attempted to block the entrance, damaged university property and ignored UCPD officers’ directions to clear a path. UCPD officers were able to enter the building and protesters exited inside the building.
“The University of Chicago is fundamentally committed to supporting the rights of protesters to express a broad range of viewpoints. At the same time, university policies make clear that protests cannot jeopardize public safety, disrupt university operations, or involve the destruction of property.”
During the protest, a man who declined to reveal his identity alleged that a pro-Palestine demonstrator walked onto the front lawn of the Rohr Chabad Center, located across the street from the Archaeological Institute, carrying a rock.
“Would you walk into (the place of) Jewish life and learn about the bricks? “It's scary,” the man said.
The man claimed the female protester “pushed a friend of mine” before another protester called him a “racist Jew” after seeing him speaking to the police. The man filed a police report with UCPD.
At around 8 p.m., tensions rose again in the backyard and in the IOP alley. UCPD officers began dismantling the barricade that protesters had set up in the back alley. Some demonstrators then threw chairs and other furniture in the direction of the PPC officers. At the time, UCPD officers issued a trespassing warning to protesters and said those still in the backyard risked arrest. By 8:30 p.m., officers had cleared the alley. Officers then directed the protesters out of the backyard of the police institute, which was cleared of protesters by 9 p.m
Via Telegram, organizers said they were planning to spend the night at IOP Park. However, by 9:30 p.m., the group left the IOP and began walking south down South Woodlawn Street toward the Alivisatos home.
Once the demonstrators were in front of Alivisatos' house, they hung Alivisatos' doll from a tree. One of the demonstrators hit the doll repeatedly with the crutch until it broke. The demonstrators cheered with each blow and threw candy that spilled from the doll back into the crowd.
By 10 p.m., most of the demonstrators had dispersed in front of Alivisatos' house.
Before the group split, one of the organizers said: “We know this is not about us; this is about Palestine.”
