Pro-Palestinian student activists at the University of Cincinnati held a demonstration on campus Thursday afternoon. The protest against Israel's occupation of Gaza comes just two days after a 21-year-old UC student was arrested by campus police for his involvement in an alleged altercation with non-student demonstrators.
The group Students for Justice in Palestine says the demonstrators were preachers not affiliated with the university who were seen holding signs with offensive messages directed at Muslims, Jewish people, and women.
UC says the student arrested, Collin Miller, repeatedly bumped into the preachers and did not follow police orders to move away from the preachers. Pro-Palestinian students say his arrest was an unjustified attempt to intimidate activists.
"There has been a direct attack on students," SJP organizer Laila Shaikh told a crowd of students Thursday.
Since early March, several pro-Palestinian activists at colleges across the country have been detained by ICE agents as part of a Trump administration-led effort to crack down on what it calls "Hamas sympathizers."
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Education under Trump has launched dozens of investigations into universities over accusations of antisemitic harassment linked to pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including at UC. The Department also launched another investigation into UC's DEI programs.
Shaikh says the administration's actions aren't going to stop students from making their voices heard.
"Radical change will only come with radical action," she said. "It will not come if we let them scare us. It will not come if we let them intimidate us. It will not come if we give them the authority that they're begging for us to give them."
Miller pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and was released from the Hamilton County Justice Center Tuesday on a $1,500 bond. He spoke briefly to the crowd during Thursday's demonstration.
"You saw me probably in a video getting arrested by five officers," he said. "Next time, they better bring f—ing ten."
A spokesperson for UC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday's protest.
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