RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – Thirteen people, including six students, were arrested during Monday night’s protest at Virginia Commonwealth University where pro-Palestinian protesters and police in riot gear clashed and pepper spray was used, VCU said Tuesday.
All 13 were charged with unlawful assembly and trespassing, per a Tuesday press release from the university. The six students will go through VCU’s student conduct process, the school said.
Students protesting Israel’s war effort in Gaza and demanding an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war created what they called a “liberation zone” on Monday morning outside of the James Branch Cabell Library on VCU’s Monroe Park campus in Richmond.
The demonstrators used colorful chalk to write messages on the sidewalks near the grassy patch in front of the library where the zone was located, held up signs, waved the Palestinian flag and chanted together before authorities arrived.
The pro-Palestinian protesters, who also demand that VCU disclose and end all financial ties with Israel, eventually set up structures in the zone Monday, which VCU said Tuesday violates school policy. These primarily included wooden pallets, but tents were also put up.
VCU said that university staff and police “respectfully and repeatedly” asked the demonstrators in the zone to follow school policies throughout Monday.
Authorities that responded — a group that included Virginia state police, Richmond police and VCU police — were equipped with riot gear, including helmets, gas masks and shields, to disperse the protest. VCU said police issued four mass warnings to demonstrators who didn’t leave.
“Officers from VCU Police, Richmond Police and Virginia State Police were on the scene, and RPD declared the gathering an unlawful assembly,” VCU wrote in a statement Tuesday.
Videos taken by 8News and other outlets show police taking down the wood pallets used as a barrier and other barricades, police with helmets and riot shields moving in and some objects, including water bottles, being thrown at them before some protesters and authorities push against each other and struggle over the pallets.
Footage also shows chemical irritants being deployed and some demonstrators and others standing, watching and leaving the area. Members of 8News reported being hit with some sort of chemical irritant.
“Individuals who chose not to leave threw objects and used chemical spray on officers. Officers used pepper spray to disperse the crowd. VCU Police report that officers did not use other chemical agents, such as tear gas,” the university’s statement continued.
8News’ team at the scene reported seeing protesters being arrested with force and on the ground with their hands put in zip ties. 8News’ video shows people inside Cabell Library who were banging on windows.
“Final exams begin this week and VCU must provide students the opportunity to safely and successfully complete the semester,” VCU wrote in a statement Monday. “The gathering violated several university policies.”
VCU and university police did not make anyone available for interviews Tuesday, only sharing statements from the university and its president.
“While our community cherishes the right to peaceful protest, setting up structures on our campus lawn violated our policy. Our staff respectfully and repeatedly asked individuals to comply,” VCU President Michael Rao wrote in a message Tuesday. “As has happened on other campuses around the country, conflict between police and protesters took place.”
Virginia State Police and Richmond Police did not make anyone available for interviews Tuesday, with spokespeople for both saying they only assisted during the protest and VCU police was the lead agency.
“However, I can confirm that the Virginia State Police did not deploy any aerosol irritants last night,” VSP spokesperson Corinne Geller wrote in an email to 8News.
According to VCU, the 13 people arrested and facing the two misdemeanor charges of unlawful assembly and trespassing are Rafal Al Molhem, Donovan James Berry, Sarah Butler, Taylor Clement, Daijah Eames, Oscar Ferguson-Osborne, Kent Green, Benjamin Harris, Melisse Ilhan, Anna Merlene, Jude Namez, Julianne O’Brien and Ellen Opsal.
VCU’s student-led protest is among several against Israel’s war effort in Gaza protests that have spread across the country on college campuses, with students taking part in sit-ins, putting up tent encampments and other demonstrations.
Student protests over Israel’s war in Gaza have sparked dueling protests, altercations, arrests, students expressing safety concerns and reports of hateful rhetoric, national outlets and student-run newspapers report.
Arrests after pro-Palestinian campus protests have now taken place at VCU, Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, per the Gaza health ministry, an ongoing conflict driven by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed.
According to the Associated Press, Hamas took some 250 hostages and mainly killed civilians, including families, and a UN envoy report found “reasonable grounds” that Hamas militants committed rape and other sexual attacks on women. Per the AP, Israel says that around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 are still being held by Hamas.
The war has created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with more than a million Palestinians being displaced, reports of difficulty getting aid into Gaza and famine concerns.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the war has led to 382 killed in the West Bank, thousands of injuries on both sides and more than 70,000 housing units destroyed in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah “with or without a deal” on a cease-fire, per the AP.
