Palestine activists to protest student repression; city council introduces solidarity resolution

Minneapolis, MN – On November 8, the Twin Cities-based Free Palestine Coalition rallied outside Hennepin County Government Center in support of student arrestees who face both university disciplinary action and potential criminal charges for protest action.

The arrests took place on October 21, when campus community members occupied Morrill Hall at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Demands included UMN divestment from companies complicit in the Gaza genocide and severing ties with Israeli universities. Occupiers renamed the building “Halimy Hall,” after Medo Halimy, a Gazan Palestinian student who was murdered by Israeli forces in August.

Eleven individuals were arrested and jailed for allegedly participating in the occupation. Among those, UMN alumni Robyn Harbinson, faces fourth degree assault charges. Other students detained face potential suspensions, evictions from on-campus housing, and other repressive measures pending disciplinary hearings – as well as the looming possibility of criminal charges from prosecutors.

Protesters demanded that Hennepin County and the city of Minneapolis decline to pursue charges against any of the arrestees, and that the University of Minnesota revoke all punishments for students.

Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley, representing Ward 2, where many UMN students live, spoke at the rally and told the crowd she recently introduced a resolution titled, “Expressing solidarity with nonviolent campus activism opposing war and supporting Palestinian human rights, and urging no charges be filed against protestors arrested at the University of Minnesota on October 21, 2024.”

The draft resolution points out that in January 2024, Minneapolis city council passed a ceasefire resolution aligning with many of the same goals as the student protesters’ demands. It also notes a historic 1970 occupation of Morrill Hall by Black students, and a similar movement in the 1970s and ‘80s that ultimately won university divestment from apartheid South Africa.

Wonsley announced that the resolution will be discussed at the December 3 city council meeting and she invited the Palestine solidarity movement to come to the meeting to show support for the resolution.

“These attacks on campus protests show that the political repression many commentators have accused the incoming Trump administration of planning, is in fact already here,” said Wyatt Miller, a member of the MN Anti-War Committee. “Now that the election is over, it’s crucial to keep focus on the movement against the U.S./ Israeli genocide in Palestine, including these brave student protesters, who history will no doubt absolve.”

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