Salt Lake City, UT — Students at the University of Utah joined the wave of campus protests demanding that their school, which has close ties with weapons manufacturers, divest from Israel and condemn the genocide in Gaza.
Under the gaze of a multi-agency police response, over 300 protesters and students joined by faculty rallied at the admin building, marched to Presidents’ Circle and started an occupation by setting up tents.
“Netanyahu, you cant hide, we charge you with genocide!” chanted the anti-genocide students. The students declared the university renamed as the People’s University. “We will be staying here until our demands are met,” a speaker told the crowd.
As images of police violently suppressing student movements across the country have spurred some faculty to unite with the movement in recent days, University of Utah faculty joined student protesters, some holding signs reading “hands off our students.”
Students and supporters settled into the newly established encampment for the evening. Speakers say they plan to stay until their demands – including the school divesting from Israel and arms manufacturers – are met.
These protests come as dozens of encampments have sprung up on at least 50 campuses across the nation and 10 campuses across the world. A non-university encampment in Jackson Square New Orleans was erected for a few hours before being violently repressed and evicted.
Near midnight, masses of police descended upon the encampment, violently evicting it.
