Four people were arrested during a pro-Palestine protest on the Diag Wednesday afternoon. Three of those arrested — a community member, a University of Michigan alum and a 16-year-old high schooler — were released 3 hours later. The fourth, a U-M researcher, was placed on a 48-hour hold without bail in the Washtenaw County Jail. As a result, the TAHRIR Coalition, an association of more than 90 pro-Palestine organizations, launched a campaign advocating for his release, vowing to protest at the U-M Division of Public Safety and Security headquarters and Washtenaw County Jail until the researcher was released.
The protest for the researcher’s release began Thursday at 9 a.m. in the parking lot outside of DPSS headquarters. A crowd of about 50 protesters gathered on hot asphalt in the muggy air, chanting, beating drums and blowing horns. Police stood across the street, closer to DPSS headquarters behind a line of yellow police tape.
Protesters moved to the Washtenaw County Jail at noon, and about 30 minutes later the U-M researcher was found at the restaurant Palm Palace, where Public Policy junior Assmaa Eidy said the researcher had walked after his 11:20 a.m. release.
In a joint press release between DPSS and Public Affairs, Melissa Overton, Deputy Chief of Police for DPSS, wrote that the protesters on the Diag were given multiple warnings more than an hour before the arrests took place.
“Some refused to leave and, as a result, four people were arrested,” Overton wrote. “None of the people who were arrested were students.”
The release did not comment on why the researcher was detained for an extended period while the other three were released. A student protester, who requested anonymity out of fear of retribution and will be referred to as Jaime, told The Daily that while the researcher was standing nearby, he was not involved in the protest.
“The police got in formation and just lunged at protesters at random,” Jaime said. “They arrested two individuals at first, and then they arrested another individual … and then another individual who wasn’t even engaging in the protest, who wasn’t even part of the demonstration, who was off to the side, was also arrested.”
Overton wrote in an email to The Daily that while the researcher has been released, the incident is still under investigation.
Eidy said that the University has ramped up its intensity in response to their protests, but the protesters do not intend to stop until the University divests from companies profiting off Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“First and foremost, we will always protect one another,” Eidy said. “We’re always going to stand here with our community.”
Daily Staff Reporter Ava Chatlosh can be reached at chatlosh@umich.edu.
The post ‘We will always protect one another’: Ann Arbor community gathers to protest UMich researcher’s arrest appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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