Wayne State University police removed a pro-Palestine encampment and arrested 12 people on Thursday morning. 

During a press conference after the removal of the encampment, WSU’s Muslim Coalition President Ali Hassan said arrests included students, a medic and a third party observer. In a call Thursday afternoon, University Communications Associate Vice President Matt Lockwood said 12 people were arrested.

“Many students, including organizers, were arrested,” a representative of the encampment said in an Instagram post by Students for Justice in Palestine. “One individual was clearly not resisting arrest and was thrown to the ground brutally by four Zionist-trained WSU police with a hand over his neck. A few other individuals were grabbed from behind while walking away, and hijabs were ripped off. This was an unnecessary response, as we have requested multiple times to meet with WSU administration.”

A video from the Detroit Free Press shows U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and an arrested student’s family members advocating for the student because her hijab was removed.

All 12 arrestees were released from the Detroit Detention Center by Thursday afternoon.

WSU’s Students for Justice in Palestine began the encampment a week earlier to advocate for the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel’s war on Gaza. Those companies include Boeing, General Dynamics, L3 Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin and Northop Grumman, according to a divestment resolution passed by the WSU Student Senate in November.

Leading up to the removal of the encampment, protesters and administration spent the week communicating through WSU Vice President for Community Affairs Patrick Lindsey. 

Lindsey spoke with representatives of the encampment nearly every day, asking for its removal. WSU moved to remote operations Tuesday through Thursday, citing the encampment as a public safety issue.

An email from President Kimberly Andrews Espy, Ph.D., on Thursday morning said officers started to announce the removal of the encampment around 5:30 a.m. The email said the encampment “presented legal, health and safety, and operational challenges” since it started on May 23.

“Officers from the WSUPD made repeated amplified announcements to allow everyone time to gather their belongings and leave,” Espy said in the email. “Many people left. Final cleanup of the area is ongoing, and campus operations will remain remote for today… After ongoing consultation with the Board of Governors, university leadership and leaders in the community – and after many good-faith efforts to reach a different conclusion – this was the right time to take this necessary step.” 

Lindsey first offered SJP a meeting with the administration on Tuesday morning if protesters removed the encampment by Monday evening. SJP said the encampment would not move until divestment happened and posted on Instagram inviting the administration to meet at the encampment on Wednesday at 6 p.m. 

When the encampment stayed past Monday night, Lindsey told encampment representatives that Espy and Board of Governors Chair Shirley Stancato could meet right away with two representatives from SJP and the Muslim Student Association on Tuesday around 4 p.m. Protesters initially declined a private meeting and said they needed more time to prepare. 

“Not only did the administration completely dismiss the students’ wishes to having the right representatives, but they also disregarded the students reaching out for a meeting,” a SJP Instagram post read Tuesday evening.

SJP, Tlaib and Wayne Academic Union President Daniele Aubert all gave accounts of SJP reaching back out for a meeting Tuesday evening and saying they could meet at 6 p.m.

SJP said they received no response, and Espy sent an email to the campus community saying protesters declined to meet on Tuesday.

SJP reinvited the administration to meet at the encampment at 6 p.m. Wednesday night; no members of administration showed.

In an email to the campus community Wednesday night, Espy sent a new university webpage that explains investments and the university processes that lead to them.

Members of SJP said in a press conference after the raid there was little warning the encampment would be removed.

“We went to sleep thinking nothing was gonna happen,” a first year WSU student and member of SJP named Diana said. “We went to sleep at around 5 (a.m.), and then I want to say less than an hour later we were woken up and everyone was running around. We were told we have 10 minutes to get up now… The last time we had a raid threat we definitely had more time to prepare. We had zero time to prepare this time.”

Wayne State’s Student Senate, which passed resolutions asking for divestment from companies with business ties to Israel and police reform during the 2023-2024 term,  released a letter of support for the encampment on Thursday morning. The letter signed by Senate President Hayden Johnson called on Espy and the Board of Governors “to engage in honest and transparent negotiations with their student body.”

“The categorization of this protest as a threat to public safety is discriminatory language against those protesting, especially Muslim and Arab students,” Johnson said in the letter. “The Senate stands by the goals of the encampment, the desire for clear and transparent communication and the resumption of normal campus activities… The resumption of normal campus operations should not begin with overwhelming police presence, student removals and arrests.”

American Muslim and Minority Advocacy League Executive Director Fatina Abdrabboh spoke during the press conference and said the fight for divestment doesn’t end with the removal of the encampment.

“This is not going to end here,” Abdrabboh said. “We want them (those arrested) released. We want the university held accountable… Nobody is going away, President Espy. Nobody is leaving. This is just the beginning.”