Pro-Palestinian protesters at Southern CT State University interrupted the governor, who was speaking at an event on campus, and appeared to yell at him of not taking action to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Student protesters commandeered a chamber event on Wednesday that was attended by the governor, legislators, municipal officials and others, according to State Rep. Craig Fishbein.
State Republicans sent a letter to Southern's interim president, Dr. Dwayne Smith, stating that they're "disturbed by the spontaneous protest that emerged from various corners of the room by attendees."
"It seemed clear that this protest was an orchestrated event by several people. But we were especially disturbed by the grossly inadequate response from campus police and the administration's failure to address the issue and de-escalate the situation," the statement reads.
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In a statement, Smith said once police instructed protesters to leave, they did. He said he has received comments and letters from attendees who noted how well the officers handled the situation including escorting the individuals from the room and out of the building without physicality. According to Smith, the protest began at 9:02 a.m. and the protesters were escorted from the room at 9:07 a.m.
Fishbein, along with his peers, went on to say that the protesters closed the doors to the venue and temporarily locked everyone inside. He said they were then allowed to continue chanting outside into the hallway.
"Eventually the situation diffused, however in the interim there appeared to be no planning by SCSU to prevent such an action, nor what could have been a much worse outcome," Fishbein said on Facebook.
Smith said he understands the disruption was unnerving to some attendees. "While we at Southern uphold the right to freedom of expression, we do not condone this disruptive activity. We are deeply committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the members of our university community and the many visitors who attend public gatherings on campus," he said in a statement.
The Annual Legislative Forum was held by the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce. The Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce said there were approximately 250 attendees including 15 legislators at the event.
Smith said most of the protesters had registered to attend the event. Initial investigations show only two of the protesters were Southern students with the rest being community activists and/or enrolled at neighboring universities.
"While we respect the right to protest, the protestors method was obnoxious and distasteful. The Governor handled the situation calmly, and when it became clear that they were only there to yell, he left the stage, and we paused the program," said President and CEO of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Garrett Sheehan.
“They yelled at me for going to Israel and leading a trade mission a couple years ago, but they didn’t happen to mention that I’m also probably one of the only people in this room who has been to Gaza and Gaza City more than once. I’ve seen those kids. When I see the devastation there, those are aren’t numbers. Those are faces that I recognize," Lamont said.
Sheehan said once the protesters left the room, the governor was able to finish his remarks and the program continued without incident.
The governor said that while he recognizes the group had a right to protest, "nobody’s going to listen to them unless they lead off with the fact that they acknowledge and condemn the brutal sadistic genocidal attack on Oct. 7 and what it did to all those young, innocent civilians.”
"The suddenness of the protest was jarring, but the Southern team responded professionally and deescalated the situatin," Sheehan added.
Meanwhile, Fishbein said he and other elected officials felt unsafe and are concerned about the position Gov. Lamont was placed in.
"As an elected official, I have never felt so unsafe at an event, and I am very disappointed by the lack of security and the failure of college administrators to react promptly," the statement reads. "Under no circumstances should a group of individuals be allowed to close people into a room and hijack a program without any type of response, especially when our governor is on the stage."
No one was hurt during the incident, but Fishbein said the event "could have spiraled into something that no one would have wanted."
