The College Fix

UPDATED

Police say protesters set signs on fire, threw radio at officer

PHILADELPHIA – Drexel University fenced off areas of its campus and added extra security measures on Monday as a result of a pro-Palestinian protest on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Police later confirmed four people were arrested and one officer was injured during the protest.

The extra security at the Philadelphia university included an increased police presence. Additionally, university personnel were stationed at building entrances to check students’ IDs, as announced by Drexel Public Safety in an email to students on Sunday.

“To ensure the safety of the Drexel community and prevent unauthorized access of Drexel buildings, there will be an increased presence of Drexel Police and Public Safety on campus on Oct. 7,” the email stated.

“Campus buildings along Market Street in close proximity to Drexel Square will be accessible through a single-point of entry and only with a valid Drexel ID. Security officers or University personnel will be stationed at the entrances of these buildings,” it stated.

Police vehicles lined the street along Drexel Square where the Drexel Palestine Coalition held the protest Monday. The protesters began gathering at 2 p.m.

The coalition includes “students, faculty, staff & alumni in support of an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza and an end to the occupation,” according to its Instagram page.

It organized the protest with the Philadelphia Students for Justice in Palestine Coalition to “protest one year of the Zionist entity’s genocide in Gaza,” the group announced.

It encouraged participants to “[w]alk out of class, call out from work, and join us on the streets. Cover up, wear a mask, and bring your friends.”

Drexel’s safety alert system notified students at 3:02 p.m. of “Increased police activity and traffic delays in the area due to protests,” and students were encouraged to avoid the area.

The Students for Justice in Palestine groups from Drexel, University of Pennsylvania, and Haverford College posted a video on Instagram of the protesters chanting in Drexel Square.

The video depicts a crowd with signs that read “University of Palestine,” “No funding for war crimes,” and “Fund schools not weapons.”

The crowd can be heard chanting “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with occupation,” and “The students united will never be defeated.”

The protesters marched off campus around 3:40 p.m., according to an email from Drexel’s safety alert system. A video by Penn FJP shows the group moving toward Penn’s campus.

In another video from the Philadelphia SJP, protesters join hands and shout in front of police officers at 35th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue, just outside the Pennovation Center on UPenn’s campus.

Four arrests were made once the protests moved onto UPenn’s campus, the Philadelphia Police Department told The College Fix over email.

“After remaining at that location for about an hour, some protesters began to disperse, setting a few of their signs on fire,” the department stated.

“When police attempted to disperse the remaining crowd, some individuals became combative. A male protester threw a radio at a police lieutenant and was subsequently arrested for assault,” according to police.

“Another male’s disorderly actions resulted in an officer falling and hitting his head; the officer was transported to the hospital for treatment and is expected to be released soon,” police told The Fix.

The department stated the male whose actions resulted in the officer’s injury was charged with disorderly conduct; a female and two other males also were charged.

MORE: Northwestern U. students rally for ‘free Palestine’ on Oct. 7

Meanwhile, on the same day, Hillel at Drexel hosted several events for Jewish students, including a memorial tent during the day and a memorial gathering in the evening.

Rabbi Isabel de Koninck, executive director of the university’s Hillel, told The Fix over email the events were attended by “well over 100 students.”

“For most in our campus Jewish community the day focused on mourning and grief over those killed in the 10/7 terror attack,” the rabbi said.

“[F]or many it also included deep concern and grief for all those – Israelis and Palestinians – who have been killed since, and a fervent hope that the remaining hostages will be brought home speedily and that this war will come to an end soon,” she told The Fix.

“While opinions in the Jewish community about the war itself, the best way to bring the hostages home, and about broader ideas about how to secure peace and well-being for all in the region may differ widely, the grief at the loss of life on and as a result of 10/7 is felt acutely across our community,” Koninck said.

The rabbi also sent an email to the university Hillel community on Oct. 7 responding to the protests. She noted how “antisemitism has become a regular concern” on campus over the past year.

“Jewish students have been accused of supporting genocide for defending Israel’s choice to respond to Hamas’s violence,” Koninck wrote in the email, provided to The Fix.

“It has been 365 days, and though we have prayed for peace, prayed to bring them home, and prayed for the carnage to end – the deaths still come, and our mourning has still not been transformed back into dancing,” Koninck wrote.

In May, pro-Palestinian protests forced Drexel to hold classes online, The College Fix reported at the time.

The Fix also reached out to Drexel Chief of Police Mel Singleton, Vice President of Strategic Communications Niki Gianakaris, and the Drexel Palestine Coalition Instagram account multiple times for comment, but none responded.

Editor’s note: The article was updated to include new information from the Philadelphia Police Department about the arrests.

MORE: ‘Our martyrs’: Chicago college students rally for ‘Gaza’

IMAGE: James Samuel, Drexel Palestine Coalition/Instagram

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