On Friday afternoon, pro-Palestinian protesters stormed the University of Chicago Institute of Politics building, overturning furniture and damaging property, killing the Institute’s director, former Sen. We confronted each other. She denied her request to leave the office, university officials said, adding that she was the only employee in the building.
The demonstration continued into the evening outside the institute, about two blocks from where police cleared a protest camp last week.
Protesters said in a statement Friday that they occupied the building to protest the University of Chicago’s ties to Israel. Bystander video showed protesters climbing out of second-story windows and exiting the building as the crowd below cheered.
After demonstrators were removed from the building by police, other protesters remained outside and in nearby yards, continuing to shout, shout, and drum.
University spokesman Jeremy Manier said in a statement that protesters attempted to block entrances to the building, damaged property and ignored orders from law enforcement to leave.
“The University of Chicago is fundamentally committed to defending the right of protesters to express a wide range of opinions,” he said. “At the same time, university policy makes clear that protests must not endanger public safety, disrupt university operations, or involve destruction of property.”
Earlier in the day, the institute held a board meeting in its building that included David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama and the organization’s founder, officials said.
The Institute of Politics is two doors down from the University of Chicago Hillel and across the street from Rohr Chabad, where several students were having Shabbat dinner when the demonstration began. As the protests continued, protesters raised Israeli flags within sight of pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Rock music blared from nearby houses, seemingly trying to drown out the chants of protest.
The sign identifying the Institute of Political Science building was covered with a cardboard placard that read “Permanent ceasefire now,” and a series of demands hung from the building. Among the demands was “abolition of universities.”
A group of protesters at the University of Pennsylvania also attempted to occupy a campus building Friday night. University police and Philadelphia police made several arrests and cleared the Fisher Bennett Hall building. The hall is opposite College Green, the site of an encampment cleared by police last week.
Matasias Schwartz and Jeremy W. Peters Contributed to the report.
