Five student protestors were arrested for trespassing Friday after refusing to the leave the Hannah Administration Building, where they had staged a sit-in for divestment following the morning's board meeting.
MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant said the protesters were "given multiple notices" regarding the building's closing time throughout the day as they sat in the lobby of the president's office. The office closed at 5 p.m., and the building closed an hour later.
When protestors refused to leave the building after posted hours, they were arrested. MSU DPPS spokesperson Nadia Vizeta said they were issued misdemeanor appearance citations and released from custody the same evening.
MSU DPPS made the call to arrest the protesters in accordance with protocol, Guerrant said.
"Once it got past 6 p.m. when the building does close, the police did issue out three warnings over the course of about 30 minutes that they needed to leave or there would be further action taken," Guerrant said. "To my knowledge, everything was handled very peacefully and very calmly, and there was no violence."
One of the students arrested was comparative cultures and politics senior Jesse Estrada White, a member of the Hurriya Coalition. Estrada White said the goal of the protest was to continue pushing the university to consider divesting from Israel, and to demand MSU walk back on its comments from an April board meeting in which it said the university would not consider "divestment of any kind" in regards to its Israeli bonds.
"For our movement to continue and for us to make any progress in it, we’re going to need the university to rescind that comment," Estrada White said. "Put divestment back on the table, and begin negotiating on this very thing."
Hurriya also demanded that MSU address The Rock being painted over on Indigenous Peoples' Day and create a Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Arab institute for students.
Guerrant reiterated the university’s support in hearing out student protestors.
“The university respects their ability to protest and the rights to free speech," Guerrant said. "And as the president said many times since the summer, being able to express yourself and your opinions and beliefs in a safe way is certainly a priority to the university, but we have to balance that with safety."
The protestors were prepared to be arrested, Estrada White said, though he said it was not their goal.
“We did not go there to be arrested," Estrada White said. "We went there with the intentions of making our case and meeting with the people in charge of the investments."
Estrada White said despite the reason for the sit-in, it was a “joyful” space of community and learning that he wished President Kevin Guskiewicz and trustees were a part of.
There were at least 25 people still in the area around 5 p.m., Estrada White said. When the building closed and protestors remained adamant on meeting with the president, they refused to leave.
Then 20 minutes later, more police arrived and started escorting people out of the building. Estrada White and four other protestors adamant on staying were arrested.
After their arrests, the students were taken to the MSU police station where they were issued citations for misdemeanor trespassing and released at approximately 8 p.m., Estrada White said.
Guerrant said to ensure the police avoided using physical force in arresting protestors, there were discussions throughout the day between law enforcement and the protesters on fire safety codes and the number of people who could safely be in the space while being mindful of those working in the building.
Though many people were nervous, Estrada White said, everything that led up to the arrests was peaceful.
Social relations and policy junior Eli Folts was also arrested. Folts, a member of the Hurriya Coalition, described the arrest as a show of power.
“Using our privilege and what we can to hold the university accountable, especially when we’re paying thousands of dollars to attend here, we are stakeholders and we should be considered that,” Folts said.
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Folts said there was no physical hostility from MSU DPPS while being arrested and in custody. Despite the arrests, Folts said he and Hurriya will not stop advocating for divestment.
“Divestment from South Africa, it took a long time and it took a massive collaboration between students, community, faculty and even trustees — it doesn’t stop,” Folts said. “I think this was a critical moment for our movement here, and I think it’s good to reiterate to people. We’re going to keep showing up, we’re going to keep showing out. We will not give up.”
