New York Police Department (NYPD) officers have cleared the Gaza solidarity encampment organized by Fordham students associated with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The 15 individuals remaining in the encampment were arrested at approximately 6 p.m. for misdemeanor trespassing.
Fordham administration requested NYPD assistance in clearing the encampment via a letter sent shortly before the arrests, according to NBC News reporting. Students involved with the demonstration said that Public Safety personnel initially called the NYPD in the morning of May 1, shortly after the encampment’s initial formation.
Tetlow stated that the university believes at least some of the protesters were Fordham students.
“We draw the line at intrusions into a classroom building, especially by people who are not members of our community,” University President Tania Tetlow wrote in an email shortly following the arrests.
Tetlow stated that the university believes at least some of the protesters were Fordham students.
“This decision was not about parsing the difference between protected political speech and threats, nor was it about the Middle East,” Tetlow said. “This was only about the physical protection of the campus.”
She also noted in the email that the university has “increased security at both campuses, to strengthen the walls and gates that allow us to avoid outside intrusion at this moment.” In an email to Fordham community members, Robert Fitzer, associate vice president of public safety announced that the university would also have an increased presence of NYPD officers around the campus perimeter.
The NYPD and Public Safety barricaded all entrances to the Leon Lowenstein Center at approximately 9 a.m. on May 1. Once the encampment had closed, students, faculty, staff and other supporters began protesting outside of the building on the corner of 60th Street and 9th Avenue.
Shortly before the arrests, law enforcement personnel in front of the Leon Lowenstein Center used metal barricades to contain protests on the sidewalk in front of the building. With the barricades, they created a gap between the protesters and the window looking upon the encampment, forming a division between the two pro-Palestinian groups.
Just before 6 p.m., a student inside the encampment held a note to the window announcing their imminent arrest “in 5 minutes.” The crowd erupted in boos and screams of “shame,” prompting maintenance personnel to partially conceal the front window using a large blue tarp.
Through the side window, however, protesters outside the building witnessed NYPD officers emerge and begin clearing the encampment and detaining participants using flex cuffs and zip ties. Amid their arrest, protesters inside the Leon Lowenstein Center linked arms and faced the crowd outside.
As the arrested protesters and the detaining officers disappeared from view of the crowd outside, protesters began to run to the other side of campus, chanting loudly in anticipation of the encampment participants’ emergence.
SJP leaders instructed the crowd to migrate to the 140 West building amid speculation that the arrested students would exit onto 62nd Street.
As the arrested protesters and the detaining officers disappeared from view of the crowd outside, protesters began to run to the other side of campus, chanting loudly in anticipation of the encampment participants’ emergence. After approximately 20 minutes of waiting, however, the crowd descended into silence with the realization of their misdirection.
While the mass of students, faculty and other supporters gathered on 62nd Street, NYPD vans exited through the McMahon Hall loading dock with the detained participants. They have been transferred to 1 Police Plaza, where student and faculty protesters alongside other supporters are currently gathered in solidarity.
As stated in a Public Safety message sent around 8 p.m., the main entrance to the Lowenstein Center will reopen at 7 a.m. on May 2, and the plaza will remain closed until further notice.
