At 5:10 p.m. on Nov. 11, the Case Western Reserve University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine posted on their Instagram page that a “rally for the students in custody” would take place outside the CWRU Division of Public Safety Headquarters Building. Set to begin at 7 p.m., SJP announced that this demonstration was a call to action to address the three student arrests made earlier that day and protest against the alleged maltreatment of the students in police custody. This protest succeeds the vandalism of various locations on campus that took place on Nov. 8.
The rally consisted of 85 to 100 individuals who gathered at the police department, some of whom wore masks. Among chants directed at the police standing behind metal barriers, there was a moment when the crowd turned around to “boo” at two individuals who work for University Marketing and Communications.
After a speech by the organizers of the rally, the group marched through the North Residential Village, stopping outside Linsalata Alumni Center before walking down Ford Drive, up Bellflower Road and returning back to the headquarters.
“I can’t stand for what the university’s doing. It’s not acceptable in its broad suppression of student voices,” a protester told The Observer before the start of the march.
During the protest and in the preceding Instagram post, organizers claimed that “3+” students were arrested by the CWRU police before being booked into Cuyahoga County Jail. They allege that students were unable to reach legal counsel, and one student was forcibly asked to remove her hijab.
“It’s just wrong to arrest students who currently go to Case, and from what I’ve heard there’s basically no evidence against them. They’ve been moved to the county jail, and one of them had their hijab removed, which is a human rights violation,” one of the rally participants said.
The worry about the rule of law concerned many of those who attended. “As a Jewish student on campus, I’m always concerned when anyone is detained without due process. That has historically not been a great thing for us,” an anonymous student participant said.
Organizers highlighted the conditions at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center, where pretrial defendants are held. One attendee, third-year law student Shatha Shahin, said, “Three students were unjustly arrested and sent to the worst county jail in the country in abhorrent conditions just because of their pro-Palestinian activism. This school is anti-Palestinian and will do anything to intimidate and silence Palestinians and their allies.”
A written statement from CWRU on Nov. 11 connects three arrests on campus to Nov. 8’s vandalism: “Earlier today, multiple individuals were arrested on felony charges in connection with the vandalism of buildings, structures and artwork across our campus overnight on Nov. 8. These individuals have been transferred to the Cuyahoga County Jail, where they are afforded full legal rights, including access to counsel. As this is now a criminal investigation, the university is unable to provide further comment.”
An analysis of publicly available information from the Cleveland Municipal Court shows three individuals were arrested on Nov. 11 by the CWRU Division of Public Safety for vandalism, being charged with a fourth-degree felony. One other individual has a warrant out for their arrest. The Observer has independently confirmed that all four individuals are CWRU students.
While the protest was being organized, many students on campus expressed skepticism about the goals of the rally, specifically around the arrests and charges. “They were arrested for vandalism. If I were to draw a Star of David, I would also get arrested for vandalism,” a rally onlooker said.
Another onlooker expressed similar sentiments, saying, “It looks like they’re mad that the vandals got arrested, so they’re saying ‘drop the charges.’ If you did the crime, you do the time.”
Note: This article was written before the most recent arrest on Wednesday, November 13th.