Several UConn students who are taking part in a pro-Palestinian protest on the campus in Storrs have gathered Friday morning after camping out overnight.
The protest continues after a large crowd of around 300 people demonstrating to protest the war assembled near the Werth Residence Hall on campus on Thursday evening.
Students said they have some demands, including to disclose and divest certain school-related investments, to cut ties with Israeli schools and to stop what they see as the repression of pro-Palestinian students at UConn.
“One of our demands to the university is to sit down and negotiate these demands with them. We have not heard back and they are not willing to hear back from us, so anything that happens to students here in this rally at this encampment will be their responsibility because they are not willing to sit down with us,” UConn senior Muhammad Elsabbal said.
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Students said they would be out until their demands were met.
“We're standing in solidarity with them because this has gone on for too long and people like our admin are silent,” said one student, who did not want to share her name amid safety concerns.
Not long after the demonstration started, organizers shared a video that appeared to show police taking apart tents that had been set up and detaining a person.
A UConn spokesperson said the demonstrators were informed that their right to assemble and demonstrate peaceably would be respected, but that they wouldn't be able to put up tents or establish an encampment.
One graduate student was arrested during the protest and charged with one count of interfering with an officer, according to UConn. They said he was released on a $500 bond.
