Wisconsin police detain protesters amid escalating campus tensions
Police in Wisconsin have arrested anti-Israel protesters at college campuses. Pro-Palestinian encampments appeared at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, leading to clashes with the police. Tensions escalated at the larger Madison campus, where officers dismantled the encampments, resulting in confrontations and arrests, including of sociology and gender studies professors.
Police in Wisconsin have responded to heated anti-Israel protests on college campuses by making arrests.
Pro-Palestinian encampments have popped up at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and protesters clashed with police at the former on Wednesday.
Conflict arose at the larger of the two universities, Madison, when police started tearing down the campus’s encampment after officers issued warnings to the protesters to clear out.
While police took down parts of the encampment, protesters began defending tents from officials’ efforts to remove them.
Officers responded by shoving their way to the tents in full riot gear as protesters refused to back down, resulting in arrests.
Two officers pinned down and detained a Madison sociology professor, Samer Alatout, who had a bloody gash on his forehead. He accused police of “singling out” people of color and refused treatment for his wound so other people could see it.
Police later detained another Madison professor, Sami Schalk, a gender & women’s studies instructor, walking her with zip-tie cuffs around her wrists. Officers continued clearing tents as some protesters sat on the ground in protest.
Other protesters didn’t seem to heed the warnings of the police or back down in reaction to the arrests.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s encampment remained tranquil compared to its Madison counterpart. Those protesters have said they will not leave until their demands are met.
“We reiterate the demands that we have provided to the UWM administration,” UW-Milwaukee Muslim Student Association member Ameen Atta said Tuesday. “Demands that will simply require the UWM administration to adopt a moral and ethical position respecting the basic human and civil rights of all people.”
At UW-Milwaukee, encampment of about three dozen tents is quiet. Protest spokesperson Kayla Patterson said:
“We’ve just got to stay vigilant and keep doing what we’re doing.”
Barrier of tables, scrap wood makes perimeter around lawn outside Mitchell Hall. pic.twitter.com/2XPs2FcwEW— Sophie Carson (@SCarson_News) May 1, 2024
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Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) previously said action would be taken “eventually” to remove protest encampments at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee if it becomes necessary, according to WDJT-TV.
With Madison’s encampment under threat, Milwaukee’s may eventually face its own reckoning, though not as of Wednesday morning.
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