13 Pro-Palestine Protesters Arrested After Occupying Stanford Offices

STANFORD, CA — More than a dozen pro-Palestinian protestors calling for Stanford University to divest from Israel were arrested Wednesday after occupying a campus building that is home to the offices of the university's president and provost.

In a letter published Wednesday morning, university president Richard Saller and provost Jenny Martinez alleged the group broke into Building 10 in the early morning hours, damaging the interior and vandalizing nearby buildings with graffiti.

A Stanford spokesperson said one police officer suffered injuries after being shoved by protesters.

"In addition to damage done inside the building, protesters committed extensive graffiti vandalism on the sandstone buildings and columns of the Main Quad this morning," the letter reads in part. "Whether the graffiti was created by members of the Stanford community or outsiders, we expect that the vast majority of our community joins us in rejecting this assault on our campus."

As The Stanford Daily reports, the protesters barricaded the doors with bike locks and chains and covered security cameras with foil. According to Bay City News, a group of students and alumni called Liberate Stanford took responsibility for the action in an Instagram post.

"We refuse to leave until Stanford administration and the Stanford Board of Trustees meet our demands and take action to address their role in enabling and profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza," the group said.

According to The Stanford Daily, outgoing university president Saller had previously said he was reluctant to utilize police to break up an encampment established at White Plaza in April, but would reconsider if things escalated.

In light of Wednesday morning's event, Saller said the university removed the encampment and referred students to the Office of Community Standards to face potential disciplinary actions for policy violations.

"The situation on campus has now crossed the line from peaceful protest to actions that threaten the safety of our community," the university said. "This began with the recent attempted occupation of Building 570 and has now escalated into today's deeply unfortunate events."

The university said all students who were part of the group of 13 arrested Wednesday would be immediately suspended, and any who were seniors will not be allowed to graduate.

Bay City News contributed to this report.