Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Stanford University after occupying president's office

STANFORD, Calif. — Police arrested 13 people at Stanford University after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the offices of the school's president and provost early Wednesday, causing what officials called “vandalism.” extended” inside and outside the building.

The takeover began around dawn on the last day of spring classes at the university in California's Silicon Valley and ended three hours later. Some protesters barricaded themselves inside the building while others locked arms outside, the Stanford Daily reported. The group chanted “Palestine will be free, we will liberate Palestine.”

Protesters cheered in support of those arrested as detainees were escorted out of the building and loaded into law enforcement vehicles.

The student newspaper said one of its journalists was among those arrested.

Protest camps have sprung up on college campuses across the United States and Europe, with students demanding that their universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that support its war efforts.

Organizers seek to amplify calls to end Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which they call a genocide against Palestinians. The United Nations' highest court has concluded that there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza – a charge Israel strongly denies.

Stanford students who participated in Wednesday's protest will be immediately suspended and senior students will not be allowed to graduate, university President Richard Saller and Dean Jenny Martinez said in a joint statement.

They said the university on Wednesday also removed a student encampment of Palestinian supporters, which had been set up on campus on April 25, citing public safety concerns and violations of school policies.

“The situation on campus has now crossed the line between peaceful protests and actions that threaten the safety of our community,” they said, adding that protesters had recently attempted to occupy another building.

A law enforcement officer was slightly injured when he was shoved by protesters who were obstructing a transport vehicle, university spokesperson Dee Mostofi wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Other campus activities were not affected, she said.

In addition to the damage inside, the president and provost said there was extensive graffiti on the brownstone buildings and columns of the Main Quad. A video posted on social media shows police officers breaking down a door. Other photos showed a desk splashed with red liquid.

An AP reporter on campus saw walls spray-painted with political slogans calling for the destruction of the United States and Israel, as well as the killing of police officers.

“This graffiti conveys vile and hateful sentiments that we condemn in the strongest terms,” the president and dean said, adding that it remains unclear who spray-painted the university.

Sarah Lebaron, a physics student at Stanford, said she didn't think Wednesday's demonstration and graffiti were an effective way to protest the war in Gaza or question university endowments.

“I think the goal is for Stanford to divest from Israel. This is their stated objective. But I don’t see how these actions necessarily lead to that goal,” Lebaron said.

Columbia University, which was rocked by protests on its campus earlier this spring, agreed to take additional steps to make students feel safe on campus, as part of a deal reached Tuesday with a Jewish student.

The AP has recorded at least 86 incidents since April 18 in which arrests took place during campus protests across the United States. More than 3,130 people were arrested on the campuses of 65 colleges and universities. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement.

Israel faces growing international criticism for its strategy of systematic destruction of Gaza, which is costing enormous amounts of civilian lives. Israeli bombings and ground offensives in the besieged territory have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

___

Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. AP journalists John Antczak in Los Angeles and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.