2 USC students arrested after Gaza war protest on university campus

BY LAUREN LEIBMAN

APRIL 24, 2024 5:38 PM

A pro-Palestinian protest at the University of South Carolina led to the arrest of two 19-year-old students for breach of peace Tuesday night, according to a University of South Carolina Police Department incident report.

The USC protest came amid turmoil at other college campuses, including Columbia University and Yale, where students are engaging in heated protests against the Israel-Hamas war. At USC’s Russell House dining hall, chanting protesters gathered with signs and flags to support Palestine in the Gaza conflict, according to the university’s police department.

The protest aimed to disrupt USC’s “Midnight Breakfast,”an annual event held by the university for students during finals week. Russell House staff repeatedly told the students they were causing a disruption and asked them to leave, according to the incident report. The protesters refused to comply with instructions from staff, the report said. Campus police responded around 9:30 p.m. to a group of 12 students acting “loud and boisterous” in the dining hall, according to the incident report. More individuals joined the protest after police arrived.

Law enforcement addressed the group but the individuals continued to act boisterously and impede pedestrian traffic, according to the report. The report said the disturbance continued for roughly another 30 minutes before the protesters moved outside.

The police followed the group, and when the protesters realized they were going to be arrested, they started running in all directions. USC police said its officers canvassed the university campus with officers from the Columbia Police Department. USC police officers recognized two individuals from the protest walking on Sumter Street and directed them to stop walking.

The students didn’t comply until the officers caught up and detained them, the incident report said. The students were transported to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in police cars, according to the report. The incident report did not identify the students.

The protest came during a week when the Party for Socialism and Liberation organized two other pro-Palestine demonstrations on the USC campus. It’s not clear if the individuals involved in Tuesday’s protest were part of the PLS.

“USC supports students and members of our community who wish to exercise their First Amendment rights and to peacefully protest,” USC spokesman Jeff Stensland said in a statement sent to The State.

“Protesters do not have the right to infringe on others by preventing them from participating in planned campus events.”