Campus police at the University of South Florida in Tampa arrested three protesters during a pro-Palestinian demonstration that began shortly after noon on Monday.
The officers advanced after protesters began to erect tents near MLK Plaza in solidarity with students across the nation who are making demands related to Israel and its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Related: Florida college students join national wave of pro-Palestinian rallies
Tents are allowed under certain conditions on campus, but university officials earlier warned the students in a written notice that they had not received the required permission in advance. Also, the university said, the group organizing the protest has been suspended since last week for “causing a disruption” on campus and was not permitted to host Monday’s event.
About 80 demonstrators were at the scene. Two people shooting video of the protest wore blue vests labeled “ACLU legal observer,” a reference to the American Civil Liberties Union, the human rights nonprofit.
Troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol arrived a short time later to assist.
By midafternoon, the mood had calmed, with protestors sitting on blankets. USF administrators watched from a few feet away and law enforcement officers stood at a greater distance. Near the plaza, a smaller group of students stood holding the flags of Israel and the United States.
The protesters left shortly before 6 p.m. after police told them they would face trespassing charges if they stayed. They planned to resume their demonstration Tuesday morning.
The event was organized by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, which describes itself as a “multi-issue, student activist organization working to build power in our schools and communities.” Another group connected to the event, USF Divest, posted videos showing the arrests.
The incident was the latest in a wave of pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities and colleges following the April 18 arrest of more than 100 students who had set up an encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York City.
The New York Times has reported that more than 800 arrests have taken place since then, including about 200 over the weekend across the nation.
Many Florida students joined the movement last week, with protests at the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of Central Florida. But, before Monday’s arrests at USF, there had been no reports of Florida campus protesters being taken into custody by law enforcement.
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Explore all your optionsIn a statement, USF officials said they twice warned the organizers that their group could not hold the event and that tents were not permitted.
“Several individuals resisted actions by university staff to take down the tents after repeated warnings, which resulted in three arrests, including one student, one employee and one individual who is not affiliated with the university,” the statement said.
It said USF values the right to free speech and that protests are “part of the public discourse of a university,” but must remain peaceful and lawful. “The university has been clear that violence, threats, harassment and disruptions will not be tolerated,” the statement said.
Monday marked the latest in a series of high-profile protests at USF regarding both the Israel-Hamas war and recent state laws prohibiting public universities from spending on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
In March 2023, a group of demonstrators were arrested after a scuffle with campus police in the USF building where university President Rhea Law keeps her office. The group had pressed university officials to stand against the law and take steps to help marginalized students. They later became known as the “Tampa Five,” with some of them speaking at universities around the country.
More recently, USF students have been urging Law and the USF board of trustees to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and sever the university’s financial ties with Israel. A number of them participated in a hunger strike earlier this spring that lasted just over two weeks before organizers called it to a halt.
Will Mleczko, a student who participated in the hunger strike, said he was disappointed by the police response on Monday. He said the group moved away from the library after administrators told them it was disruptive.
Though the students had been warned about erecting a tent, he said officers overreacted.
”This is something that’s happening across the country,” he said. “It’s a relatively peaceful movement in general. The police are the ones that are arresting people and assaulting and mistreating people. I would like people to think about the duty of the people that are supposed to be protecting us, and whether they are actually here to protect us or if they’re here to intimidate us.”
Joseph Charry, a protest organizer, said the group had been working with USF administrators to know where they were able to protest.
”We know our rights,” he said. “USF so far is the most repressive out of all the Florida campuses. And clearly it’s because they’re scared of the student movement here at USF and the power we hold.”
After beginning near the library, the protestors marched to a grassy field behind the MLK Plaza where they said they planned to begin an encampment, despite receiving a letter from the dean for students saying camping had not been authorized this week.
The situation quickly escalated when officers took one protester into custody.
“Why are you detaining him?” group members shouted. “You’ve created a martyr.”
Officers pushed through the crowds again, tackling one person.
Related: Recent protests over USF’s financial ties harken to a 1980s controversy
Sam Ronen, a community member who attended, argued that setting up a tent was not an offense that should warrant arrest. He added the people detained by officers were not the ones who had set up the tent, but were lying on it.
”They are constantly being told that they need to have their voices heard, that they need to speak up as a valued part of the college experience,” Ronen said. “That’s all they’re trying to do. They’re not being violent. They’re not being aggressive. They have been talking to the school.”
Times Staff Writer Lesley Cosme Torres contributed to this report. Divya Kumar covers higher education for the Tampa Bay Times, working in partnership with Open Campus.
