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Police in Philadelphia detained 19 pro-Palestinian protesters, including seven students, at the University of Pennsylvania Friday night during a demonstration on campus.
The protesters had entered and were attempting to occupy Fisher-Bennett Hall.
According to a statement from the university’s Division of Public Safety, 12 protesters were issued citations for failure to disperse and failure to follow police commands and were then released. Seven remain in custody awaiting felony charges, including one for assaulting a police officer.
Penn Police recovered lock-picking tools and homemade metal shields fashioned from oil drums, according to the DPS statement.
Exit doors of the nearly 100-year-old building housing the English and music departments and cinema studies had been secured with zip-ties and barbed wire and barricaded with metal chairs and desks, and the windows were covered with newspaper and cardboard.
Bike racks and metal chairs were also found blocking outside entrances, the public safety department reported.
The confrontation came a week after the university, with the aid of local law enforcement, cleared a protester encampment on College Green. That move came after administrators tried to engage with protesters for two weeks, according to a statement from interim president J. Larry Jameson.
Friday’s attempted occupation occurred the night before alumni weekend and days before the university’s commencement ceremonies.
James Wolf, a graduating senior, told CBS News Philadelphia that the events were a “frustrating distraction.”
“I know as seniors at Penn we are all just trying to move past this and graduate and enjoy our time and it’s definitely taken away from our four years and our experience here.”
