Protesters arrested at consulate | The Arkansas Democratic Gazette

Police arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday for trespassing after occupying the lobby of a San Francisco building that houses the Israeli consulate. Replace the entire second graphic with this: Police tied protesters' hands, put them in police vans, and drove them away.

Officers arrested 69 people who refused to leave the building, cited them and released them from the San Francisco County Jail, San Francisco police said in a statement. Another protester was cited and released at the scene on the same charge, the release said.

It was not immediately clear how many people were arrested, but Associated Press journalists saw police tying up the hands of around 50 people. The police then placed them in police vans and drove them away.

A group of pro-Palestinian protesters entered the building and occupied it for several hours on Monday. Protesters posted signs on the building's front doors calling for an end to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Officers issued several warnings ordering protesters to leave before moving in and began arresting people, San Francisco police said in a statement.

About five protesters remained inside the building late in the afternoon while officers tended to detainees outside.

Israel's Consul General in the Pacific Northwest, Marco Sermoneta, said the protesters arrived around 9 a.m. at the financial district skyscraper but did not enter the consulate offices. He said his office is telling people they may need to change their appointments.

San Francisco police officers stood guard outside the building and told an AP reporter that it was not open to the public.

Earlier Monday, protesters told the San Francisco Chronicle they would not leave until they were forced to. Police blocked the building's front doors before ordering protesters to leave. Protesters inside could be heard chanting.

Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian graffiti spray-painted on the exterior of a Michigan law office is being investigated as a hate crime, police in suburban Detroit said Monday.

Jordan Acker, a regent and attorney for the University of Michigan, called the vandalism “anti-Semitic” and said staff at the Goodman Acker law firm headquarters in Southfield discovered it Monday morning.

Stains of red paint were left on the “Goodman Acker” sign above the building’s doors. “FREE PALESTINE” was painted in black on the building’s walls, while “DIVEST NOW” and “UM KILLS” – a reference to the University of Michigan – were painted in red on at least one window and sidewalk. .

Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren said investigators believe the graffiti was left between 1:39 a.m. and 1:46 a.m. Monday. The FBI and other agencies are assisting in the investigation.

“Make no mistake, targeting individual Jewish elected officials is anti-Semitism,” Acker, who is Jewish, told reporters.

“This has nothing to do with Palestine, the war in Gaza or anything else,” Acker continued. “This is a message intended to frighten Jews. I was not targeted here today because I am a regent. I am targeted because I am Jewish.”

Acker was elected to the university’s board of trustees in 2018 and is one of eight regents. Other board members have also been targets of recent protests.

Protest camps have sprung up across the United States and Europe in recent weeks. Students have asked their universities to stop doing business with Israel or with companies they say support its war in Gaza. Organizers seek to amplify calls to end the war between Israel and Hamas, which they call a genocide against the Palestinians.

Information in this article was provided by Corey Williams of The Associated Press.