Student Protesters Occupy Stanford President's Office, Get Arrested

Stanford University News

A small group of pro-Palestinian student protesters occupied the office of Stanford's President this morning. They made demands including that the protesters themselves be given amnesty for their actions.

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Pro-Palestine protesters entered and barricaded themselves inside Building 10, the president’s office, located in Main Quad, at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, which marks Stanford’s last day of classes for spring quarter. Protestors plan to remain in the building until the University meets demands or they are forcibly removed...

Protestors issued three demands to the University: add the divestment bill submitted by Stanford Against Apartheid in Palestine (SAAP) to the next Board of Trustees meeting, with a recommendation by President Richard Saller supporting the bill, disclose finances from the previous fiscal year (2022) including endowment investments and drop all disciplinary and criminal charges against pro-Palestinian students at Stanford.

Here is the person making the demands for the group.

The students posted several messages on Instagram from the President's office including one identifying themselves as part of the "student intifada.". It read, "BREAKING: AN AUTONOMOUS GROUP OF STUDENTS HAVE OCCUPIED PRESIDENT RICHARD SALLERS OFFICE! THE STUDENT INT1FADA IS GROWING."

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Outside there was a larger group of protesters who vandalized some property and linked arms around the building, apparently to keep police out. Notice the messages include "Kill Cops" (multiple times) and "Death to Israel."

They are also not fans of America.

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Eventually the police did arrive and had to break in to enter the building.


Once police got inside, they arrested all 13 people who were there and took them away. The entire occupation lasted 2 hours.

The students left a message inside under a portrait of the founder of Stanford. It read, "Leland Stanford Jr. University established 1891 on stolen land by way of genocide. This U is a death machine." It sounds like most of these occupiers won't have to worry about supporting the death machine with their tuition money much longer.

"We are appalled and deeply saddened by the actions that occurred on our campus earlier today," according to a joint statement from the university president and Provost Jenny Martinez.

A campus police officer was injured by protesters during the clear-out, and damage was "done inside the building" along with "extensive graffiti vandalism on the sandstone buildings and columns of the Main Quad," the Stanford administrators said...

Thirteen people were arrested inside the building and any "who are students will be immediately suspended" and seniors among the group "will not be allowed to graduate," the officials said.

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Some of the occupiers were apparently alumni so it's too late to suspend them. Hopefully the school will press charges for trespassing. Also, the school shouldn't settle for temporary suspensions which just allow these students to return and finish their degree next semester. Instead, expel them. I don't think every act of misbehavior by a campus protester deserves maximum punishment but this one should. They have shown complete contempt for the school by vandalizing the campus. A slap on the wrist isn't sufficient.

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