Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after occupying building at University of Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS — Police arrested an unknown number of pro-Palestinian protesters Monday at the University of Minnesota after a group of students briefly occupied an administrative building, protest organizers said.

The Monday afternoon protest prompted an alert from school officials: “Protestors have entered Morrill Hall on the East Bank, causing property damage and restricting entrance and exit from the building," the alert said. “If you are currently in Morrill Hall and able to safely exit the building, please do so immediately. Others are advised to avoid this area until further notice.”

A university spokesperson said he had no further updates. He did not immediately respond to a query to confirm the arrests. A woman who answered the phone for the university police said she had no information to give out beyond the earlier notification.

Ryan Mattson, a media liaison with the university's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, said some protesters from the group who were inside the building were arrested. He did not know how many.

Students were still protesting, "just trying to find where our people are,” he said from the scene.

Merlin Van Alstein, an organizer with the group, earlier said about 30 protesters occupied Morrill Hall, with a larger group gathered outside.

The group renamed the building “Halimy Hall,” in remembrance of 19-year-old Palestinian TikTok creator Medo Halimy who died in August in an apparent Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said it was not aware of the strike that killed Halimy.

The protesters were equipped with tents and supplies, and said they planned to stay until their demands are met. They were demanding that the university divest from Israel and repeal its political neutrality agreement. Video posted online showed chairs stacked in front of an exterior door of the building, in an apparent barricade.

“We plan to stay until they forcibly remove us,” Van Alstein said before the arrests. “The people inside aren’t going to leave until they meet our demands or they are forced to leave.”

The group earlier shared a video to Facebook of a speaker's announcement that its members were occupying the building but not restricting anyone from exiting or entering.

The speaker appeared in front of a large sign reading, “Money for education, not for bombs & occupation." Other campus protests around the U.S. in response to the Israel-Hamas war have included the divestment call.

The protests, including earlier this year at University of Minnesota campuses, raised issues of free speech and antisemitism as students demanded that their universities cease doing business with Israel or companies they said supported the war in Gaza.

The university's homecoming week began Monday.