Police arrest 13 at University of Minnesota over Free Palestine protest

ISTANBUL (AA) – Police arrested 13 Free Palestine protesters who barricaded an administration building at a university in the US Midwest late Monday, according to reports.

According to a university statement, the University of Minnesota Police Department entered the building with “necessary support” from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

Meanwhile, a group of protesters gathered outside the building’s west entrance near Northrop Mall, the Minnesota Daily reported.

Protesters barricaded the building using metal tables, chairs, bike racks, and wooden pallets, locking the doors with bike locks after marching from a rally outside Coffman Union.

While employees were present inside during the barricading, they exited the building after protesters guided them to the unblocked entrance.

Members of the university’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organized the demonstration to protest university policy on protests as well as investments in Israel and arms companies, which it said help fuel Israel’s over yearlong offensive on Gaza – with a death toll of over 42,700 and climbing – as well as ongoing oppression of Palestinians.

The protesters renamed the building Halimy Hall in honor of Medo Halimy, a 19-year-old Palestinian TikTok creator who died in an Israeli airstrike in August.

Sasmit Rahman, an SDS protester, said that the group’s fight was “just” and that the consequences of their protests are “incomparable to the situation in Gaza.”

The protesters are prepared to remain until their demands were met, he added.

Rahman also confirmed that 11 protesters are currently unaccounted for.