(The Center Square) – The University of Wisconsin says protesters are more than welcome to continue their pro-Palestinain demonstrations, but they will do so without their tents.
UW-Madison Police removed dozens of tents from the University’s Library Mall early Wednesday morning. Officers also arrested about a dozen people.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin told the university in a letter Wednesday that protesters were reminded for days that camping on campus is illegal. Mnookin said protesters were also warned before police moved in.
“Every individual was given the opportunity to move away from the tent area and continue peaceful protest without further police engagement. While many chose to do so, approximately 30 protesters were cited and several others resisted police action to remove tents or otherwise interfered with the operation and were arrested,” Mnookin said in a letter to the campus community.
Video from campus showed students and protesters clashing with campus police, the State Patrol and other officers just before 8 a.m. on Wednesday.
UW-Madison Police say three officers were injured in that scuffle. The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said three deputies were hurt, and the State Patrol says a trooper was injured during the scuffle as well.
Mnookin’s decision to call in the police got praise from UW President Jay Rothman and some Republican state lawmakers.
““UW-Madison took action to ensure compliance with applicable law and in fulfillment of its commitment to all students and the campus community. I commend Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin for her reasonableness and resolve, as well as her commitment to free expression and the safety and security of her students,” Rothman said in a statement.
“Good! We cannot let UW become the next Columbia or UCLA,” Rep. Barb Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, wrote on Twitter after police moved in.
Mnookin said protesters are welcome on campus, and are welcome to continue this current protest, but she said they will not be allowed to use any tents.
“Now that the illegal activity has been resolved, students and others are free to resume peaceful protest that abides by campus protest guidelines today or at any time in the future. Our operation focused only on the tents and the encampment, which constituted the only prohibited activity under Chapter 18 of the UW System Administrative Code,” she added in her letter. “Like many other college campuses across the country and the world, we expect to continue to face protest activity, and we recognize and respect that protest is part of our community’s precious right to free speech and expression. But such rights are not unlimited: The boundaries that our laws and code of conduct place on speech are meant to ensure that all have access to our common spaces and that dialogue takes place without intimidation or exclusion.”
