Officers arrested 41 students on Monday following a demonstration at Brown University as students staged a sit-in and called for a cease-fire in Gaza, according to the Brown Daily Herald.
Providence Police Department and Brown Department of Public Safety officers arrested and booked all 41 students from Brown Divest Coalition who occupied University Hall on Tuesday afternoon and demanded the school divest from weapons manufacturers amid the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Herald.
“The disruption to secure buildings is not acceptable, and the University is prepared to escalate the level of criminal charges for future incidents of students occupying secure buildings,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in a statement to The Herald.
The arrests come just one month after twenty members of Jews for Ceasefire Now were charged with trespassing after staging a sit-in at University Hall, calling for divestment and a ceasefire, according to the Herald.
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Sayles Hall and Campus, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. (Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“Given that this is the second prominent incident in recent weeks of students trespassing in a secure, non-residential building after operating hours, the University fully expects to recommend more significant criminal misdemeanor charges for any future incidents after the Dec. 11 sit-in,” Clark said.
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People hold up signs and protest following a vigil held on the grounds of Brown University, after three students of Palestinian descent were shot and wounded in Vermont, at the school’s main green in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. November 27, 2023. (REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi)
Clark added that arresting students is not an action that the school takes lightly.
“It’s essential to highlight that arresting students is not an action that Brown takes lightly, and it’s not something the University ever wants to do,” Clark wrote, adding that the University issued repeated warnings to ensure “that the students fully understood that they would not be allowed to remain in the building after normal operating hours for security reasons, and that they could face disciplinary action for violating policies, as well as arrest.”
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Brown University President Christina Paxson was caught omitting references to Jewish students from her speech after being heckled by pro-Palestinian activists. (Screenshot/WPRI)
A Brown University spokesperson was not immediately available for comment to Fox News Digital.
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