Anti-Israel Protesters Arrested After Storming College President’s Office

Eighteen students were charged with misdemeanor trespassing and with obstruction of justice after an anti-Israel demonstration erupted into chaos on Friday afternoon, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The protest began as a peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstration at Pomona College. However, the protest took a u-turn after the protesters stormed and occupied the College President, Gabrielle Starr’s office. After the protest began, the protesters stormed Alexander Hall and entered into the president’s office.

Videos from the incident showed Starr confronting some of the students who occupied her office with threats to suspend them. A campus letter written by Starr noted dozens of students who took part in the protest could face suspension.

“Any participants in today’s events on the SCC lawn or in Alexander Hall who turned out to be Pomona students are subject to immediate suspension,” the letter reads. “Students from the other Claremont Colleges will be banned from Pomona’s campus and subject to discipline on their campuses. All individual participants not part of The Claremont Colleges community are hereby banned from campus immediately.”

The letter also stated that officials had also offered to move the wall to an area set aside for protests, but the students refused. This made them retaliate by harassing the college officials and staff and using anti-black racial slurs in addressing the administrator.