Police clash with University of Calgary proPalestinian protesters left after encampment removal
Using shields, batons and flashbang explosives, Cal‐ gary police officers forcibly removed a group of pro‐ testers Thursday night from an encampment set up on the University of Cal‐ gary campus.
Most of the large group of pro-Palestinian protesters at the tent site agreed to pack up and leave shortly before police began to move against those who remained at the site outside MacEwan Hall the home of the university's student centre.
As the packing was under‐ way, a Calgary Police Service (CPS) member assured one of the protest leaders that no one would be arrested if they left.
They were also told they could return to the university on Friday, provided they don't bring any "encamp‐ ments, barricades or obstruc‐ tions."
But not all of the people at the encampment agreed. A smaller group of protesters remained on scene, singing "we shall not be moved."
At roughly 11:10 p.m. MT, shortly after giving a fiveminute warning, police used their shields and bicycles, keeping up a rhythmic push, to drive the few dozen re‐ maining protesters out of the encampment area.
At several moments, pro‐ testers attempted to resist the police action. CPS mem‐ bers responded by throwing flashbangs, which produced both loud noises and smoke. Several protesters were heard coughing as many fled the area.
WATCH | Police forcibly remove protesters from U of C encampment:
Ten minutes after begin‐ ning the clearance, police had completely emptied the area.
In a statement released shortly after midnight, CPS said the use of the flash‐ bangs was triggered by the actions of the protesters.
"Projectiles and assaultive behaviour by the remaining protestors triggered the use of non-lethal munitions by officers," the statement said.
"No injuries have been re‐ ported. The number of ar‐ rests, tickets and charges will be made publicly available tomorrow."
University officials said in a statement to CBC News late Thursday that the protesters had been told several times through the day that tempo‐ rary structures were not per‐ mitted.
"Members of the campus community are free to protest, but they are not free to camp," the university said.
WATCH | Police and pro‐ testers discuss breaking up U of C encampment:
In a post to the social plat‐ form X, CPS said they were notified at 6:30 a.m. MT on Thursday by campus security that protesters had set up tents on the south lawn of MacEwan Hall.
The post said the protest‐ ers were asked to leave and, when they refused, were in‐ formed they were trespass‐ ing. The protesters still re‐ fused to leave, CPS said, and police were then called in for assistance.
According to the studentled group behind the en‐ campment, it has set up on campus to get the attention of the university's senior leadership, including presi‐ dent Edward McCauley and interim provost Penny Werth‐ ner.
Students want divest‐ ment
Like other recent univer‐ sity protests, those involved say students at the U of C are demonstrating to demand of‐ ficials disclose and sever any ties the school has with Is‐ rael.
It comes after the Hamas attack on Israel last fall led to the capture of more than 250 hostages and killed around 1,200 people, according to Is‐ raeli officials. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Is‐ rael's retaliatory bombing campaign and ground offen‐ sive have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians - many of them civilians, including chil‐ dren.
"We've been asking the U of C to review their invest‐ ments, to make their invest‐ ments more public, to make sure that we know what's going on, where the money's going - our tuition money," said Mohammad Arhaam Mukati, president and cofounder of the U of C's Pales‐ tinian Advocacy Club, who is involved with the encamp‐ ment.
"They're not asking for much. What they are asking for is crucial. It's important. It's significant."
WATCH | Unverified video from earlier in the night when police arrived on scene:
The list of demands is out‐ lined in the statement issued by the organizing groups. They are asking the U of C to disclose all of its direct and indirect investments involv‐ ing Israel.
They are also calling for a "complete and continued di‐ vestment [from] corporations that develop military tech‐ nology in order to profit from wars globally, all corpora‐ tions that play a role in sup‐ pressing Indigenous peoples globally and all corporations that have links to regimes un‐ der investigation by the Inter‐ national Criminal Court."
Further, the organizers are urging the university to adopt a definition of antiPalestinian racism on cam‐ pus with a zero-tolerance policy, and support Palestin‐ ian students' mental wellness and academic success.