How campus leaders respond to adversity matters: it has the potential to improve or exacerbate tensions on campus, while also impacting students’ trust in their institution.
A month after a peaceful protest on campus on April 30 that resulted in a crowd of 100 being tear-gassed and 10 protesters being arrested, President Leah Law and USF leadership have made it clear they are pleased with the outcome. response From law enforcement.
“I’m proud of our campus police and the way they conduct themselves and represent the university,” board chairman Will Weatherford said at a board meeting June 4. “I’m proud of the law enforcement that we have on our side.”
Related: USF leaders praise response to campus protests despite criticism
Law and Weatherford should have condemned the police’s use of tear gas. The way the authorities responded to the protests was unjustified brutality.
Tear gas was thrown back at the police Said University Police Chief Chris Daniels. UP’s actions have done nothing to ease tensions, making the goal of maintaining peace an ironic one.
Before the gas attack, protesters had linked arms in a circle and built barricades to protect themselves with umbrellas and plywood shields.
Police announced over a loudspeaker that they would use tear gas if the protesters did not leave the encampment by 5 pm. Protesters did not leave the area, and wooden shields and umbrellas used for self-defense were seen as a threat of violence.
“We were carrying wooden shields because protesters had been beaten and handcuffed the day before,” Alina Atiku, a student and former hunger striker, told The Oracle in an interview. “We expected the police to attack and we knew they would tackle us. It’s a bit ridiculous that the police are justifying their actions because of our shields.”
During two protests on campus on April 29 and 30, police arrested 13 demonstrators, including five USF students, three alumni and one WUSF employee.
Charges against protesters range from misdemeanors such as unlawful assembly and resisting arrest to felonies such as resisting an officer with violence and possessing a firearm on school grounds.
Related: USF can impose limits on protests, First Amendment expert says
In May, First Amendment expert Zachary Greenberg wrote: Told the Oracle The 5 pm deadline given to protesters was a reasonable time limit, he said, and such limits are typically used to enforce quiet or study hours.
But is chemical warfare really necessary, even if, as Low’s April 30 email suggests, students studying for final exams could hear the slogans being shouted?
Tear gas should be a last resort used by authorities to disperse crowds that actively pose a threat to people’s safety. Police frequently use tear gas as a riot control tool.
“My eyes and throat were burning. I couldn’t see what was going on around me,” Atiku said of the effects of tear gas. “I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see. I was pretty helpless. That’s what tear gas is supposed to do.”
May 2 Press conference, Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida Civil rights group Civil Air Force-Florida (CAIR-FL) spoke out against the situation, saying, “UP state and county police put peaceful student protesters at risk while they were exercising their First Amendment rights.”
“Where is the so-called safe space for students? This is not the protection of education, this is violence and intimidation by USF and law enforcement,” the group said at the meeting.
Disbanding groups defending the Palestinian cause was a way to silence their voices and at the same time divert media attention from USF’s refusal to divest. Now the conversation is centered on the “unruly” protesters.
Related: “USF Can and Should Divest,” Hunger Strikers Write
Tuition-paying students should not face consequences for standing up for their beliefs on campus, especially when they are acting peacefully and raising awareness of issues that USF chooses to remain involved in.
USF leaders should be ashamed that they justified this behavior against their own students.
College campuses have always been, and will continue to be, places for open but respectful dialogue.
This is difficult to do when student calls for reform are being silenced and peaceful protests are being met with chemical weapons.
