Stony Brook University president defends protest arrests amid new pro-Palestinian demonstration

Two hours before a renewed pro-Palestinian protest at Stony Brook University on Wednesday, university president Maurie McInnis — under fire by some faculty for her decisions about using the police force to arrest students during last week's demonstration on campus — issued a defense of her actions.

“It was a complicated situation, rooted in an emotionally charged national context, with no clear answers,” McInnis wrote in a letter to the campus community. “No president wants to have to contemplate arresting students. And we did everything we could to avoid that.”

“I do not accept the suggestion made by some that my decision was tantamount to shutting down speech,” she added. “Our response was firmly focused on protecting the safety and right of free expression for all members of our community.”

During the protest last week against the bloodshed in Gaza, 29 students and professors were arrested at an encampment by the Staller Steps. The administration said they would speak to the protesters if they moved, but the demonstrators refused and police moved in. 

About 30 protesters met Wednesday afternoon for a two-hour peaceful protest in which they marched from near the LIRR tracks to the campus center, the scene of last week's protests. It was roped off and about a half-dozen campus police officers were there. The protesters then moved to a plaza near the administration building.

They chanted “Free, Free Palestine” and carried a cloth banner, saying: “Stony Brook you will see, we are all SJP.” Those are the initials for Students for Justice in Palestine, the group which has been organizing the protests. Their leaders were arrested last week. 

Student protesters declined to talk, referring reporters to their leaders who were off campus because they were suspended. After last week's protest, 20 students who were involved received interim suspensions, which are subject to appeal. 

Anna Hayward, a professor in the university's School of Social Welfare, said she attended the protest to support the students.

“I've worked at this university for 14 years now,” she said. “I've never seen this amount of policing and repression of free speech and student voices since I've been here.”

“We are witnessing live on our social media accounts the murder of thousands of children, the destruction of universities, the destruction of hospitals, and the relentless pummeling of a people,” she said.

Myrna Gordon, 81, a self-described community activist from Port Jefferson, said she came to the rally because she was upset by the university's treatment of the students, and because of the violence in Gaza.

“I oppose vehemently the genocide in Gaza, and support not only the students on the campus but those that are protesting nationally and staying on the right side of history,” she said, adding, “For them to suspend them from campus was deplorable.”

Bill McNulty, 89, a retired teacher from Setauket, showed up at the rally in a wheelchair, holding a Palestinian flag.

“This is an issue that is especially demanding because of the slaughter taking place in Gaza,” he said.

He said he has served time in jail for civil disobedience, and admires the students who were arrested. “I think they have tremendous courage,” he said.

Stony Brook's protest is one of dozens held across the nation on college campuses, including Columbia University. The pro-Palestinian demonstrations follow the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200, followed by an Israeli response in Gaza, in which more than 34,500 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Israel says the casualties are the unavoidable cost of eliminating Hamas.

McInnis faces a “no confidence” vote on Monday in the Faculty Senate, which held a heated meeting last Monday in which it also called for the president to drop criminal charges of disorderly conduct against the protesters.

The university has not said what it will do regarding that demand, referring questions about the criminal cases to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Some of the arrested students and faculty say police also seized more than a dozen of their cellphones and have not returned them.

Kelly Drossel, the university's senior director of media relations, said in a statement Tuesday that Stony Brook “cannot comment on open cases.” But she added that its campus police is “an accredited law enforcement agency” that “works in close consultation with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office. As in all cases no evidence that is seized is searched without the appropriate steps including the application for and receipt of a search warrant where applicable.”

The proposed resolution the faculty will vote on declares “no confidence in President McInnis’ capacity to perform the ongoing duties of her office in a wise and humane manner.”

McInnis on Wednesday said she acted in the best interests of the university. “I also do not accept that my decision demonstrated that I do not care about our students. I care about every one of them. One group's speech rights cannot cancel those of another group.”

McInnis also defended Lawrence Zacarese, vice president for Enterprise Risk Management, which oversees the campus police. Some faculty members criticized Zacarese, contending he was implementing what they described as an authoritarian police state on campus that goes against the spirit of academic freedom.

“To my dismay, despite repeated calls for civility from the senate’s leadership, there were outrageous personal attacks on both ERM and its leader, Lawrence Zacarese,” McInnis wrote. “I created ERM three years ago to ensure a safe, secure campus of more than 50,000 students, staff, faculty, patients and visitors.”