VCU officials on Tuesday identified the 13 people who were arrested Monday night on the lawn outside the James Branch Cabell Library after hundreds of protesters pitched a makeshift encampment in the park to protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
The arrested individuals, which included six VCU students, have been identified as:
- Rafal Al Molhem, 19
- Donovan James Berry, 23
- Sarah Butler, 28
- Taylor Clement, 20
- Daijah Eames, 28
- Oscar Ferguson-Osborne, 21
- Kent Green, 22
- Benjamin Harris, 19
- Melisse Ilhan, 39
- Anna Merlene, 29
- Jude Namez, 20
- Julianne O'Brien, 26
- Ellen Opsal, 29
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A VCU spokesperson said the encampment violated the school’s Reservation and Use of Space policy, which requires the organizers of “major events” — events with 150 people or more — to provide advance notice to university officials, receive permission for the events and refrain from disrupting university functions and campus operations.
Organizers also must receive clearance to install structures and use sound amplification, according to the policy.
“VCU upholds and protects free speech,” university officials said in a statement. “VCU will enforce its directive that prohibits encampments, including the installation of structures … This will be done to comply with our policies and to support allowing students, faculty and staff to complete the semester successfully.”
On Monday afternoon, the protesters brought tents, tarps, food, water and other supplies to the lawn and established what they called a "liberation zone." The group could be seen singing, chanting, studying and making art in the grass. Organizers gave the group instructions on how to resist arrest in the event of a showdown with law enforcement.
By around 8:30 p.m. Monday night, VCU, Richmond, and Virginia State police officers in riot gear were assembled on the lawn and declared an unlawful assembly, ordering the protesters to disperse. Hundreds refused, constructing a barricade with shipping pallets and hurling water bottles at officers.
Officers advanced on the line of protesters, using pepper spray and shields to break up the group. Multiple arrests were made in the library lawn as officers disassembled tents and tarps and pushed onlookers away from the scene.
Sereen Haddad, 19, a VCU student and protest organizer, in a Tuesday news conference on the library lawn said the police's response was inappropriate and excessive. The event was peaceful, Haddad said, and only "escalated when law enforcement showed up."
"We were never told to disperse, we were never told anything would happen if we did not disperse," Haddad said. She added that the protesters decided to form the barricade after they were advised that a busload of police officers in riot gear was headed their way.
Haddad, who had a visible black eye, said she was subjected to "forms of police brutality."
"There is no excuse for what happened," she said. "It is quite disheartening to be at a university that doesn't care about their students."
By late afternoon Tuesday, the scene had returned to normal. A few VCU police officers could be seen monitoring the area, but no demonstrations took place following Haddad's remarks.
According to a source familiar with VCU officials' decision-making, VCU President Michael Rao, Vice President for Administration Meredith Weiss and VCU Police Chief John Venuti consulted throughout the day and made the decision to break up the encampment.
A source with the Gov. Glenn Youngkin administration told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that both Youngkin and Secretary of Public Safety Terrance Cole spoke with Rao before and after the events. The source said that the conversations were purely informational, and did not include directives from the Youngkin administration.
The police response was "requested by (the) VCU chief," the source added.
In a letter sent by VCU Board of Visitors Rector Todd Haymore to other members of the board, Haymore said that the university "worked for many hours yesterday to peacefully end the unauthorized encampment on campus."
"I was in contact with the president and other members of administration leadership yesterday and expressed my support for the right for individuals to peacefully protest on campus," Haymore wrote in the letter. "University staff and police respectfully and repeatedly asked individuals to comply with policies throughout the day."
But the protesters refused to cooperate, Haymore said, leading to the confrontation.
Haymore added that police provided four warnings to the protesters before moving in, clearing the crowd and making arrests.
"More than a dozen officers were treated for injuries or exposure to contaminants," Haymore said.
In a statement, Rao said the incident is a reminder of the “complexities” of commitment to free speech.
“While our community cherishes the right to peaceful protest, setting up structures on our campus lawn violated our policy,” Rao said. “As has happened on other campuses around the country, conflict between police and protesters took place. I deeply appreciate those who peacefully expressed their views and the efforts of our staff during this time.”
A spokesperson for Richmond police declined to comment, and said that "VCU is the lead agency in this matter."
Dillon Piatt, 22, of Richmond, said he went to the protest with friends to support Palestine. As she approached the scene, she saw people running away and warning others about pepper spray.
Piatt said she was sprayed immediately after going near the crowd.
Serena Whitehurst told the Times-Dispatch that she came out after hearing that there was a "riot."
"It's been crazy," said Whitehurst, 21, and an exercise science major, adding that she did not understand why police had to intervene.
"It was peaceful," she said.
Whitehurst said the response made her want to be a part of the protests.
"It makes me want to be a part of it more. As college students, we have a right to speak our minds. Every time we try to, something like this happens," Whitehurst said. "I hope this does something. I hope this makes a difference."
Students at the University of Virginia also are planning a “day-long liberated zone” on the school's Lawn Wednesday to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinian people as Israel continues to lay siege to the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
While the event was scheduled to start Wednesday, dozens had already set up camp by the UVa Chapel adjacent to the Lawn Tuesday evening. It was unclear if that early encampment would remain after organizers announced police had asked them to clear the area.
It is no coincidence that the protest will be held on May 1. Organizers chose the date to align with an anti-war protest that took place on the Lawn in 1970, when thousands of students held demonstrations to voice their opposition to the United States’ decision to expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia.