Chicago police clear pro-Palestinian encampment on DePaul campus

Chicago police cleared out a pro-Palestinian encampment at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus Thursday morning after school officials said they had reached an impasse with the protesters.

The encampment has been in place since April 30 and had been the last remaining in the Chicago area and the longest-standing in the country. Last week, campus police at the University of Chicago cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment, ending an eight-day demonstration.

At DePaul, live shots from the scene showed officers in riot gear at the quad just before 6 a.m. Thursday and carrying off items from the camp.

As of 7 a.m. though dozens of officers remained on the scene dismantling the last of the encampment, the situation appeared peaceful. Officers on bikes lined Fullerton Avenue and motorists were able to get past.

About 100 protesters stood across the street from the main quad, many of whom chanted: "Free Palestine” and “Robert, Robert you can’t hide, you are funding genocide” in reference to DePaul University president Robert Manuel.

Manuel released a statement earlier Thursday saying the school's "Office of Public Safety and Chicago Police are now disassembling the encampment. Every person currently in the encampment will be given the opportunity to leave peacefully and without being arrested," the statement said. "I urge all there to leave peacefully and return home."

"I write to you early on this Thursday morning to inform you that despite our good faith efforts to come to a shared resolution with the DePaul Divestment Coalition, we were unsuccessful," Manuel said in the statement.

Manuel said he was "deeply saddened" by the development.

"Effective immediately, the quad and all other green spaces on the Lincoln Park Campus will be closed to everyone," the statement said. "These spaces will remain closed until further notice so that we can begin property repairs and return to normal operations. Anyone who tries to breach the fence around the quad or any of the green spaces on the Lincoln Park Campus will be trespassed, arrested, and suspended."

Simran Bains, a senior student organizer, said two students had been arrested as the encampment was torn down.

One of those was Muslim woman whose hijab was torn off during the arrest and the other was a DePaul student who was pulled to the ground by his helmet, Bains said.

The protesters got no warning of the clearing of the encampment, but had heard rumors about some police involvement, Bains said.

“I can’t even describe what was in the air, but we just had a feeling,” she said. Students haven’t met with university leaders since Saturday, despite proposing a meeting Monday that administrators didn’t show up to, Bains said.

Organizers will continue pushing for Palestinian rights and DePaul’s divestment from Israeli supporters and forces, she said.

“What we are facing now is 1/100th of what the people of Palestine have been facing for decades,” Bains said.

Ash, a 23-year-old protester who lives in the area and had been staying at the encampment for a week, said he woke up to people screaming that cops had come to the quad around 5:30 a.m.

“My first thought was to be prepared for if the police were to escalate our rally,” he said.

He estimated around 100 tents and more than 100 people were at the encampment when it was leveled.

“By the time we were waking up we were already in the encampment,” said Ash, who added he’d seen social media content about families in Gaza that inspired him to attend rallies at DePaul and join the encampment.

“It’s hard to see videos of people talking about their towns being reduced to rubble,” Ash said. “It’s hard to see things like that and not be outraged.”

Over the weekend, administrators declared they had reached a stalemate with organizers and could not move forward with negotiations.

Student organizer Henna Ayesh said the encampment still wanted to negotiate and proposed additional meetings, but the administration did not show up.

This is a developing story. Check back for details.