Students and others protesting Israel’s war in Gaza gathered again at the University of Georgia’s campus on Monday afternoon, hours after police broke up an earlier protest and arrested several demonstrators for trespassing.
About 30 people gathered next to The Arch at the north entrance of the campus in Athens and began marching on the North Campus at 3 p.m., chanting “Free free Palestine, long live Palestine.”
The protesters gathered as other students stood at the landmark Arch in their graduation gowns getting their photos taken. Monday was the last official day of classes, with finals starting later this week, ahead of May 10th commencement ceremonies.
By about 3:15 p.m. the protesters had returned to The Arch, approximately numbering 75 or more, most of them young.
Some chanted, “Jere, Jere you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide,” referring to Jere Morehead, UGA’s president.
A UGA official put cones around the Arch, presumably to ensure the sidewalk is not blocked.
A state patrol SUV rolled by on Broad Street as onlookers gathered downtown.
“What a spectacle. I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I wanted to see it,” said one observer, who identified himself as a UGA student and gave his name as Michael I, declining to share his full last name.
The afternoon protest was was organized by Athens Against Apartheid and Students for Justice of Palestine.
Elle Lewis, a spokesperson for Athens Against Apartheid, disagreed with the earlier police response on Monday morning.
“We obviously came back out, so we did not agree with it. It was a flagrant violation of student rights, a flagrant violation of free speech,” Lewis said.
In a statement after Monday morning’s arrests and before the renewed afternoon protests, UGA said it remained “firmly committed” to freedom of speech and expression but that it also has the right “to regulate the time, place and manner” of protests.
Referring to the morning protest, UGA said about 25 demonstrators began erecting tents and a barricade, blocking sidewalks and building entrances, and using amplified sound. It said campus regulations prohibit camping and disrupting university activities.
After “multiple” warnings that protesters would be charged with trespassing, UGA police “were left with no choice but to arrest those who refused to comply” during the morning protest, the university added in its statement.
By 3:45 p.m., demonstrators had returned to the site of the earlier protest on the Old College lawn. The gathered crowd appeared to number 100 or more.
Many of the protestors sat on the lawn, occupying the space near where earlier protestors were arrested.
