Four Northwestern University educators have been arrested for allegedly obstructing law enforcement during a pro-Palestinian encampment in April, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The instructors are being charged with Class A misdemeanors that could result in up to one year in prison and a $2,500 fine, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The university refused to discuss individual cases and noted that charges were filed with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, which could not comment on pending litigation.
“Four individuals have been issued Class A misdemeanor citations by the Northwestern Police Department for obstructing a police officer during the protests on Deering Meadow earlier this year,” [University spokesman Jon] Yates told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“While the University permits peaceful demonstrations, it does not permit activity that disrupts University operations, violates the law, or includes the intimidation or harassment of members of the community,” Yates told the DCNF.
An agreement between faculty and protesters that was made stated that the campus area known as “Deering Meadow,” where the encampment was set up, was also home to other reserved campus events outside of the protest. It was noted that the protest was limited to students, faculty and staff to ensure that community members could participate in the other events at Deering Meadow.
“It’s a pretty mind-blowing experience to have your employer send their own police after you to arrest you within your place of employment,” Alithia Zamantakis, an assistant professor at Northwestern’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, who faces charges, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
One professor at the April protest attempted to file a police report against another instructor for shoving police officers trying to make arrests and one student was assaulted by an anti-Israel protester, according to the Daily Signal.
The Northwestern president, Michael Schill, admitted to Congress in May that only a select few students who were involved in the protests had been reprimanded for violating university policies. The university struck a deal with protesters after a week of encampments to look at proposals to divest from Israel.
The agreement was praised by faculty and other education leaders, but three Jewish organizations called for Schill to resign, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
