Dozens arrested in Emory protest of Mideast war, ‘Cop City’
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The 28 people arrested after clashing with law enforcement on the campus of Emory University on Thursday will get out of jail on a signature bond — meaning they won’t have to put up any money to secure their release.
A judge made the announcement before setting conditions for the defendants’ release at a hearing Friday morning.
At least 20 of the 28 arrestees were of the Emory community, including students and faculty , one of them a professor.
The arrests came during on-campus protests involving the war between Israel and Hamas. According to Emory University officials, protesters threw objects at police officers who asked them to leave the campus. Police used handcuffs, zip ties, stun guns, and physical force to get some of the offenders into custody, Emory officials said.
Protesters pitched tents in the school’s Quad around 7:40 a.m. Some protesters were seen holding “Stop Cop City” signs referencing the police training center, while other areas showed items laid out on the lawn that resemble bloody bodies in reference to the ongoing war.
Emory said the school’s police department told the group to leave and called Atlanta police and state patrol for help.
MORE | 2 USC students arrested during Mideast war protest
An incident report from USC Police states two students were part of a group of 12 people who were located outside of a dining area on the second-floor of Russell House.
Some protesters were seen holding “Stop Cop City” signs, while other areas show items laid out on the lawn that resemble bloody bodies in reference to the ongoing war.
In a statement, Emory University said several dozen protesters tresed onto the private school’s campus early Thursday morning and set up tents in the Quad. The school’s police department told the group to leave and called Atlanta police and state patrol for help.
“These individuals are not of our community. They are activists attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals,” the statement continues. “Emory does not tolerate vandalism or other criminal activity on campus.”
One Emory Ph.D. student said the arrests make him feel sad — not just for the university, but for the state of the country.
“What the hell is this? It’s freedom of speech,” the student said.
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Gerald Griggs, the Georgia NAA president, posted on X that “given the events that occurred this morning on the campus,” he’s requesting a meeting with Emory President Gregory Fenves “to discuss the events on the campus as soon as possible.”
Emory s the ranks of several universities whose campuses have become the site of heated demonstrations and protests surrounding Israel and Palestine. The movement swept through the nation after more than 100 people were arrested at Columbia University in New York last Thursday.
The protests came days after some Morehouse College students, faculty and alumni voiced their concern about President Joe Biden speaking at the school’s graduation commencement next month, arguing he hasn’t done enough to end the war.
Also in Georgia
Students, faculty and others at Kennesaw State University marched around campus on Thursday demanding a permanent ceasefire and end to the Israel-Hamas war.
“For myself as a teacher and educator of social studies and students who will be teachers, it’s important that I too am a practitioner of my craft. Of the craft of democratic participation and so I’m out here to students here at KSU,” Associate Professor Jillian Ford said.
“I don’t feel like I should have to be afraid that every time I come to school something is going to happen because of something that is happening thousands of miles away,” Dave Clark, a KSU student, said.
Protestors held signs and shouted their staunch for other students protesting nationwide on college campuses who they said are standing up for justice and freedom for Gaza.
“This is a genocide. We’re trying to fight for human rights, not the religious debate. It doesn’t matter if you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish — we all stand here for Palestine to free the people of Palestine and this genocide. We want a cease-fire,” one KSU student said.
“To the very first demonstration that they did, I was off to the distance like where we are right now a picture was taken of me and some other students, one of which who wasn’t even Jewish but ive of Israel and the Jewish people and a target was put over us. Basically threatening our lives so I had to file a police report over that and obviously that is a bit scary,” another student said.
There was also a large police presence on the KSU campus to make sure things remained peaceful.
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