COLUMBUS, Ohio — Thirty-six people were arrested during a pro-Palestine protest on Ohio State's campus on Thursday night. Sixteen of the arrests were university students, while the other 20 people were not affiliated with the university.
Organizers of the protest said the arrests were not fair.
“Last night we saw an unbelievable amount of police violence against students, staff, faculty and Ohio community members,” said Isabella Guinigundo, a member of Ohio Youth for Climate Justice.
Guinigundo said the goal of the protest was to get the university to listen to the students and call for justice for Palestinians.
“People are really hurt, shocked at the violence. But most of all, amazing that OSU administration has not responded,” she said.
Guingundo feels the students were within their First Amendment right by protesting. An Ohio State spokesperson said the protest had to be broken up because the university does not allow overnight events.
“The university communicated that what we were doing was against the rules, against their space rules. But we have lawyers who are working with us that firmly believe that we were practicing our First Amendment right,” said Guingundo.
Some Jewish students on campus feel that lately, the campus environment has been tense because of the several different protests this week.
“I think a lot of, myself included, Jewish students are a bit intimidated, fearful and a bit tired,” said Jeremy Davis, the student president of Ohio State University Hillel.
Davis said some of the things that students say during the protest are hurtful.
“When you say Zionists off our campus, it's not very welcoming,” said Davis.
He hopes the university can meet with Jewish students about increasing safety protocol. Davis hopes that future protests won’t interfere with upcoming graduation.
“There’s still a lot of fear and questions I think Jewish students have for administration. I think the big fear is that something will happen at graduation,” said Davis.
10TV asked the university about potential protests at graduation and a spokesperson told us they are prepared if that happens.