Arizona State University (ASU) confirmed on Saturday a number of its students were among the 72 protesters arrested for the creation of an anti-Israel encampment on the school’s Tempe campus.
A university statement declared, “ASU Police arrested 72 people for trespassing after they set up an unauthorized encampment Friday,” noting that such encampments are not allowed on the institution’s property.
Following multiple warnings to leave by police, the university explained the encampment ultimately removed after 11 p.m.
While the university statement maintained the majority of those present in the anti-Israel encampment “were not ASU students, faculty, or staff,” ASU nonetheless acknowledged its students were arrested.
“Of the 72 arrested throughout the day Friday, 15 were ASU students,” the university confirmed. ASU stated it “will continue to be an environment that embraces freedom of speech,” but the university’s “first priority is to create a safe and secure an environment that supports teaching and learning.”
A list of demands was previously shared by reporters, revealing protesters apparently demanded ASU submit with “an official statement condemning the Zionist genocide of Palestinians.”
Those behind the encampment also apparently sought for ASU to participate in the controversial Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement that many Israelis consider antisemitic.
Protesters also demanded the resignation of ASU President Michael Crow, the abolition of the police on the ASU campus, and, “Professional, academic and legal amnesty for all students and faculty who have been disciplined or fired for speaking out for Palestinian liberation.”
