Anti-Israel protesters on the University of Minnesota campus occupied and vandalized an administrative building on Monday, resulting in the arrests of 11 individuals.
Protesters assembled around 3 p.m. on a campus lawn before moving along campus to Morrill Hall and entering the building, the university said in a statement.
“Once inside the building, protesters began spray painting, including covering lenses of all internal security cameras, breaking interior windows, and barricading the building’s entrance and exit points,” the statement said. “The full extent of the damage is unknown.”
Protesters belonged UMN Students for a Democratic Society, a group that is demanding the university divest from companies that support Israel. The university previously refused to comply with those demands during campus protests over the summer.
Staff were working in the Morrill Hall building at the time, and several were not allowed to leave the building, with some being unable to exit for an extended period, the university said.
Photos and video from the scene show protesters standing on the front steps to the building and chanting, with some holding Palestinian flags. Protesters barricaded a door using chairs, tables and what appeared to be bike locks, WCCO-TV reported.
Officers with the University of Minnesota Police Department were called and, with assistance from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, entered the building and arrested 11 individuals.
The university said no additional information was immediately available as the investigation remains ongoing.
The latest incident comes after similar protests swept college campuses nationwide toward the end of the spring semester in response to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
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