Man arrested at pro-Palestinian gathering at VCU on anniversary of protest turned violent
VENN
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- One man was arrested following a pro-Palestinian gathering at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) campus. The event marked the one-year anniversary of the night pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police on the same lawn in 2024.
On April 29, 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police on the lawn of Cabell Library. These students and visitors had spent most of the day advocating for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Over a dozen people, including several students, were arrested.
The afternoon of Tuesday, April 29, about 40 people gathered on that same lawn for what VCU Police described as an "unauthorized event."
ONE YEAR AGO: Police break up pro-Palestinian protest on VCU campus, arrests made
A spokesperson for VCU Police provided 8News with a statement on its response to this event, which read, in part:
"Despite multiple warnings from Student Affairs, security personnel and VCU Police that VCU policy does not authorize events on the lawn but would permit the event to relocate to the Park Plaza Amphitheater, many of those assembled refused to relocate to the Park Plaza Amphitheater.
VCU administrators and police provided those gathered with the appropriate policies and guidelines and clearly and professionally articulated the necessity for moving to Park Plaza and the consequences for failing to leave the area."
At about 6 p.m., after a "final warning," VCU Police arrested one man and charged him with trespassing.
8News spoke to Sereen Hadaad, a main organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine at VCU, later in the evening on Tuesday. She and many others had returned to the lawn.
Students and visitors gathering at VCU's Cabell Library in support of Palestinians. (Photo: Nikkita Tyler/8News)
Students and visitors gathering at VCU's Cabell Library in support of Palestinians. (Photo: Nikkita Tyler/8News)
Hadaad described the earlier gathering as a group of pro-Palestinian individuals who were sitting on the lawn outside of Cabell Library.
According to Hadaad, those gathered received conflicting information from a member of university leadership, who told them they were allowed to remain on the lawn. Then, minutes later, police were telling them they needed to leave immediately. She said the officers threatened to arrest them if they did not comply.
"As they're [those assembled] leaving the lawn, one of the students held up a sign," Hadaad said. "I think the sign said something along the lines of, 'Are you gonna tear gas us again?' And he held up the sign. Next thing you know, a police officer grabs him by the arm with no warning and says, 'You can't have that sign,' and arrests him."
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The man arrested on Tuesday was also arrested during the April 2024 protests, though all charges were later dropped.
8News asked VCU Police for additional information on the context of this man's arrest. A spokesperson said police "have nothing else to share at this time."
"Different things happened between this year and last year, but all in all, it was the same oppressive tactics, same oppressive policies and same intimidation tactics that they use to try to silence peaceful protesters -- try to silence even students, themselves," Hadaad said. "Today wasn't even a protest, we were just sitting on our lawn that we pay for."
No additional information is available as of the time of reporting.
