University of Florida criticizes leftist protesters and announces arrests, stating, “Not a daycare.

The University of Florida slammed pro-Palestinian protesters this week in a statement announcing that the school had made multiple arrests of individuals who did not comply with the university’s policies.

The school released a memo to students late last week outlining what conduct was unacceptable the consequences that protesters would face if they chose to violate school policy.

“This is not complicated: The University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children — they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they’ll face the consequences,” the school said.

Local media reported that nine individuals were arrested on campus by the university’s police department and the Florida Highway Patrol.

“For many days, we have patiently told protesters — many of whom are outside agitators — that they were able to exercise their right to free speech and free assembly,” the statement said. “And we also told them that clearly prohibited activities would result in a trespassing order from UPD (barring them from all university properties for three years) and an interim suspension from the university.”

“For days UPD patiently and consistently reiterated the rules,” the statement concluded. “Today, individuals who refused to comply were arrested after UPD gave multiple warnings and multiple opportunities to comply.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis set the tone regarding what behavior would not be tolerated on school campuses in the state in the aftermath of the October 7 terrorist attack.

Just a couple of weeks after the attack, DeSantis ordered the state to crack down on collegiate student groups that showed support for Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood terrorist attack.

The governor directed Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the State University System of Florida, to send notices to the University of Florida and the University of South Florida notifying them that they must deactivate their chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) because they allegedly broke Florida laws about terrorism.

“During a holy Jewish holiday, the recognized terrorist organization, Hamas, launched an unprovoked attack on Israel – among those killed were babies, women, and elderly,” Rodrigues said in a letter to the presidents of Florida’s public universities. “To date, approximately 1,400 Israelis have been killed, including 31 American citizens. Governor DeSantis, our State University System and the Florida College System have condemned these attacks.”

In response to the Palestinian Islamic terrorist attacks, “National Students for Justice in Palestine (National SJP) released a ‘toolkit’ which refers to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as ‘the resistance’ and unequivocally states: ‘Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement,’” the letter said.

The letter noted that under Florida law, it is a felony to “knowingly provide material support . . . to a designated foreign terrorist organization. . .” Hamas is designated by the Untied States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

“Here, National SJP has affirmatively identified it is part of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood—a terrorist led attack,” the letter continued, later adding: “Based on the National SJP’s support of terrorism, in consultation with Governor DeSantis, the student chapters must be deactivated.”

The letter concluded by saying that Florida will continue to monitor events on college campuses and will be “using all tools at our disposal to crack down on campus demonstrations that delve beyond protected First Amendment speech into harmful support for terrorist groups.”