Cornell Arrests 24 Pro-Palestinian Protesters For Disobeying Orders to Leave Building
Jose Nino
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Cornell University recently arrested 24 pro-Palestinian student protesters on March 21, 2024 for refusing to comply with an order to leave a campus administration building. This was apparently the first major clamp down on anti-Israel protests that go against school policy.
The students teamed up with the Cornell Coalition for Mutual Liberation to carry out a sit-in protest during a trustees meeting to urge the Ivy League institution to divest from multiple Israeli companies, campus spokesman Joel Malina announced in a press release.
“Demonstrators remained in Day Hall despite repeated warnings from campus staff and Cornell Police that the building was closed,” the news release highlighted.
The students were arrested despite the protest staying peaceful. They were taken into custody when they refused to leave the building after it closed at 6 p.m. Some of the students were handcuffed and patted down. They were all let go by 8:30 p.m., per a report by the Ithaca Voice.
Per Malina, “Twenty-two students were referred to [the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards] for violating the Student Code of Conduct and two employees were referred to Human Resources for violating university policy. All 24 were charged with trespassing and referred to the Ithaca City Court.”
The Voice highlighted in a report that the “arrests come as federal lawmakers have renewed pressure on Cornell to crack down on campus protests alleged to be antisemitic. As students occupied the building, Cornell University President Martha Pollack received a letter from U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-M.O.) alleging previous protests organized by the Cornell Coalition for Mutual Liberation had promoted antisemitism on campus.”
Congressman Smith’s letter to Pollack criticized the president for presiding over what he described as lackluster enforcement and security measures as anti-Israel protests spread across the nation.
Indeed, there are valid reasons to criticize the US’s policies towards Israel. However, the way the culturally-leftist dominated pro-Palestinaian movement has conducted itself has largely discredited non-interventionist measures and other steps for the US to decouple itself militarily and economically from Israel.
Hopefully, the America First Right can learn from this and pursue more rational protest and even lobbying efforts that will actually change policy while maintaining good optics.
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