Two students arrested at protest outside Meiling Hall

Nicole Nowicki, Josie Stewart, Meghan Beery
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 03:27:26 +0000
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Students gather in the South Oval after a protest at the Mirror Lake Amphitheater Tuesday. Two students were arrested during the protests. Photo credit: Meghan Beery | Copy Chief

Two students protesting outside Meiling Hall were arrested on a charge of criminal trespassing by Ohio State police Tuesday.?

The arrests occurred amid a rally outside the building, according to a video posted by the Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists. The protest, “demanding the university divest from Israel,” was organized by several groups, including the Palestinian Liberation Movement, a Columbus community organization, and Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, a statewide organization that advocates for environmental justice.

The university has not yet released the students’ names, but university spokesperson Ben Johnson said they will be referred to Student Conduct in addition to the charge.

The groups scheduled the protest outside of the Wexner Medical Center Board Quality and Professional Affairs Committee meeting — which was canceled for reasons unrelated to the demonstration — to protest “divestment” and “university democracy.” Isabella Guinigundo, communications chair for Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, said the protesters were told by the police that they were being too loud and disrupting events happening inside the building.?

Afterward, Guinigundo said officers approached students in the crowd, pulling them out and arresting them.?

Guinigundo declined to provide the full names of the students arrested, but said one is a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine at Ohio State and the other, Yousuf, is a member of Ohio Youth for Climate Justice.

Johnson said multiple warnings were issued prior to the arrests due to the demonstration becoming “disruptive to the students, faculty and staff in Meiling Hall.”

“When the disruptive activity continued, two individuals were arrested. Ohio State has an unwavering commitment to freedom of speech and took this action in alignment with our space use rules to provide for the orderly conduct of university business,” Johnson said.

The arrests came hours after Executive Vice President for Student Life Melissa Shivers sent an email to the university community asking students to be mindful of the university’s space rules, which lay out restrictions for certain activities on Ohio State’s campuses, and stated that the university can “require reasonable time, place and manner limitations be placed on usage to ensure that the usage does not disrupt the University’s mission, administrative functions, or other campus-life activities.”

Johnson said the action taken by the police aligns with these rules.

“Well established university policy prohibits disrupting the university’s mission, administrative functions and campus-life activities,” Johnson said. “This includes demonstrations that disrupt classroom and administrative buildings.”

In January, three students from Ohio Youth for Climate Justice — including Yousuf — interrupted an All Staff Wellness Event at the RPAC and were formally charged with “disorderly or disruptive conduct” under the Student Code of Conduct. Guinigundo said Yousuf was placed on probation until graduation.

This story was updated on April 25 at 11:50 a.m. to state that the students were arrested on a charge of criminal trespassing, not convicted.?