大约 130 名亲巴勒斯坦抗议者在校园被捕后的第二天，麻州大学阿默斯特分校举行集会吸引了 250 人

【中美创新时报2024 年 5 月 8 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）周三（8日）下午，约 250 人在马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校学生会大楼外集会，抗议周二晚间校园内约 130 人被捕。 麻州大学阿默斯特分校在周三上午的一份声明中证实了逮捕行动，这是在示威者在校园内建立营地、身穿防暴装备的警察进入后进行的。《波士顿环球报》记者Grace Lee、Maddie Khaw 和 Amanda Kaufman 对此作了下述详细报道。

声明称：“有关指控和传讯时间表的更多细节即将公布。” “今天一早，麻州大学警方表示，已有 109 人被立案登记，另外约 25 人的指控正在等待中。”

该大学学生会将于今晚就对校长哈维尔·雷耶斯的不信任动议进行投票。

“雷耶斯校长在昨天发给校园社区的一封电子邮件中写道，他致力于公开交换意见，但在与学生的会面结束之前，他已经向校园召集了防暴警察，”塔蒂亚娜·罗德里格斯 (Tatiana Rodriguez) 说。被捕的博士生向周三集会上聚集的人群说道。

被捕者中包括麻州大学二年级学生艾娃·哈灵顿 (Ava Harrington)，她告诉《波士顿环球报》，她支持不信任动议，并称在他职权范围内的强行逮捕“在道德上应受到谴责”。

哈林顿说：“没有什么比公然无视种族灭绝更令人厌恶的了。”他指的是该大学没有满足学生要求麻省大学从与以色列有联系的公司撤资的要求。“并在公立大学校园对和平抗议的学生使用暴力和军事化。”

周二，哈林顿站在营地中央，与其他人联手保护营地。她说，其他被捕者仍留在营地外隔离的“安全区”，高喊口号或在一旁观看。

“有人尖叫，有人攻击。哈灵顿说，[警察]随机抓捕那些合法行使抗议权利的人。他强调，在警察到达之前，营地“完全、完全和平”，没有外部煽动者。

她形容警察“全副武装、军事化”，并表示警察还逮捕了驱散或逃跑的学生。

哈林顿周三在电话中说：“当我们高呼口号时，他们全副武装地涌来。” “我的双臂被绑住，我的腿后面被膝盖压着，然后被拉，这样我就会向后摔倒……这是一次可怕的经历。”

雷耶斯在周二晚上给校园的一封信中表示，逮捕行动“不是我们所希望的结果”。

雷耶斯在声明中表示：“我们为解决方案提供了许多前进途径，包括今天与抗议代表的讨论。” “我们的信息是由示威反应和安全小组传达给营地中的示威者的。示威者拒绝了我们提出的继续进行公民对话以帮助弥合分歧的提议，并拒绝拆除他们的营地。虽然我们已经告诉示威者，如果不拆除帐篷和障碍物可能会导致逮捕，但这并不是我们所希望的结果。”

周二下午晚些时候，在学生会南草坪上建立亲巴勒斯坦营地几个小时后，十几辆警车抵达校园。警察和抗议者最初没有相互接触，因为学生领袖会见了包括雷耶斯在内的麻省大学管理人员，讨论他们的要求，其中包括该大学披露与以色列附属公司的合作关系。

麻省大学大四学生贝拉·法洛蒂科 (Bella Falotico) 表示，在与雷耶斯的谈判会议结束之前，她注意到州政府、麻省大学和阿默斯特警察在校园里动员起来。她还提到了特别紧急响应小组的官员。法洛蒂科说，会议结束后，警察进入了营地。

“警察到达之前我们在那里呆了几个小时，在那段时间里没有发生任何暴力事件，”麻省大学巴勒斯坦正义学生分会成员法洛蒂科说。 “他们是该营地中唯一的暴力存在，唯一的残酷存在……昨晚发生的任何升级都完全是因为（政府）选择派遣州警察、州快速反应小组和麻省大学警察参加和平示威 ”。

法洛蒂科周三在电话中表示，警方配备了防暴装备，并“表现出了极其荒谬的暴行和武力”，并补充说，她看到警察将抗议者从人群中拉出来并对付他们。法洛蒂科本人周二并未被捕，但她是上学期在类似抗议活动中被捕的 50 多名麻省大学学生之一。

“有人被警察打伤，”法洛蒂科说。“这一切都发生在重建营地后 12 小时内。”

法洛蒂科说，麻省大学学生抗议者上周建立了一个类似的营地，但由于政府的逮捕威胁，在一晚后将其拆除。她说，组织者花了一周时间重新集结并准备与警方的互动，然后在周二重新建立营地。

到下午 1 点，学生抗议者已经搭建了大约 20 个帐篷，并用木栅栏和托盘将其围起来。示威者根据是否愿意被警察逮捕分成不同的小组，营地内愿意面临逮捕的“红队”，以及由20至30名抗议者组成的“橙队”在外面警戒。一些抗议者在营地周围挽着手。

周三上午，马萨诸塞州美国公民自由联盟对麻省大学的逮捕事件表示担忧。

马萨诸塞州 ACLU 执行主任卡罗尔·罗斯 (Carol Rose) 在一份声明中表示：“虽然全国其他校园与示威者进行了富有成效的对话，但我们对马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校领导人选择邀请武装警察进入校园抗议环境感到高度担忧。”陈述。

罗斯说：“当大学选择让警察参与非暴力示威活动时，就会加剧紧张局势，并给所有学生、教师和社区成员带来不可接受的安全风险。” “校园管理者有义务保护学生在校园的安全；同时，他们必须采取一切必要措施保护学生的抗议权利。 动用全副武装的警察来镇压学生的政治表达本身就是一个危险的选择。

“随着哈佛大学和麻省理工学院等地的抗议活动持续进行，美国公民自由联盟继续敦促校园官员和警察保持克制，采取对话和其他非暴力方式，而不是使用武力。”

马萨诸塞大学董事会主席斯蒂芬·卡拉姆在声明中表示，董事会“全力且坚定地支持”雷耶斯。

声明称：“我们对他的领导能力、他的正直以及他对我们学生的承诺有绝对的信心。”

巴勒斯坦正义学生组织和麻省大学持不同政见者组织的抗议领导人表示，他们已于下午 4:30 与政府部门会面。并要求麻省大学满足至少两项要求，即撤资那些从战争中获利的人、切断与雷神公司的联系以及与以色列的留学项目，并撤销对10月在另一场抗议活动中被捕的57名学生的民事指控。

他们说，会议没有像他们希望的那样进行，他们鼓励示威者留在原地并保护营地。

晚上7时25分，来自三个部门的约30名身穿防暴装备的警察开始进入抗议地区，并指示大家散去。大约 100 名抗议者手挽着手包围了营地，另有约 300 名抗议者被推下草坪，警方开始从围栏内以五人为一组拘留抗议者。

警察逮捕了正在“积极抵抗”包围营地或营地围墙内的抗议者，其中一些警察配备了彩弹枪、撬棍和警棍。据现场《马萨诸塞州大学日报》的学生记者称，一些抗议者如果接近实施逮捕的警察，就会受到胡椒喷雾的威胁。

麻省大学新生杰克·菲茨帕特里克 (Jake Fitzpatrick) 于晚上 9 点 15 分说道。警察“排起了长队”。菲茨帕特里克说，他被试图控制人群的警察推到了一根灯柱上，并被告知他需要立即移动，否则“他会被枪杀”。当菲茨帕特里克试图移动时，另一名警察追了上来。

“那时我就冲刺。我想，‘我受够了，’”菲茨帕特里克说。 “我不知道他所说的‘射击’是什么意思——我猜想是彩弹射击或胡椒喷雾。”

截至凌晨1时30分，营地内的帐篷、标牌和路障已全部被警方拆除并处理。大约 70 人仍在草坪上抗议，而麻州大学警察局人满为患，警察开始在校园竞技场马林斯中心拘留被捕者。

据法院称，被捕者将于下周一、周二和周三在东汉普郡地方法院受审。

《波士顿环球报》工作人员约翰·埃勒门特 (John Ellement) 对本报告做出了贡献。

此突发新闻故事将被更新。

题图：周二晚上，抗议者在学生会外扎营后，警方在麻省大学阿默斯特分校校园内将学生戴上塑料手铐带走。

附原英文报道：

Rally draws 250 people at UMass Amherst, day after about 130 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested on campus

By Grace Lee, Maddie Khaw and Amanda Kaufman Globe Correspondent  and Globe Staff,Updated May 8, 2024 

Around 250 people rallied outside the University of Massachusetts Amherst UMass Amherst’s student union building Wednesday afternoon to protest the arrests of around 130 people at the campus Tuesday night. In a statement Wednesday morning, UMass Amherst confirmed the arrests, which took place after demonstrators established an encampment on campus and police in riot gear moved in.

“Further details on the charges and the schedule for arraignments will be forthcoming,” the statement said. “Early this morning, UMass Police said 109 people had been booked and charges were pending for approximately 25 other individuals.”

The university’s student government will vote this evening on a motion of no confidence in Chancellor Javier Reyes.

“In an email yesterday to the campus community, Chancellor Reyes wrote that he is committed to the open exchange of ideas, yet before his meeting with students had even finished, he had already called riot police on to campus,” said Tatiana Rodriguez, a Ph.D student who was arrested, to the crowd gathered at Wednesday’s rally.

Ava Harrington, a UMass sophomore who was among those arrested, told the Globe she supports the motion of no confidence, and called the forceful arrests under his purview “morally reprehensible.”

“There is nothing more disgusting than blatantly ignoring a genocide,” said Harrington, in reference to the university not meeting student demands for UMass to divest from companies with ties to Israel. “And using violence and militarization on a public university campus towards students that were peacefully protesting.”

Harrington on Tuesday planted herself at the center of the encampment, linking arms with others to protect the camp. She said others arrested remained outside the encampment in separated “safe zones,” chanting or looking on.

“There was screaming, there was aggression. [Police] were grabbing random people … that were legally exercising their right to protest,” Harrington said, emphasizing that the encampment was “completely and totally peaceful,” with no outside instigators, before police arrived.

She described the police as “highly armed and militarized,” and said that officers also arrested students who were dispersing or running away.

“They just came in forces and forces and forces, in full riot gear, while we were chanting,” Harrington said over the phone Wednesday. “I had my arms linked, and I was kneed from behind in the back of my leg and pulled so that I would fall backwards … It was a terrifying experience.”

Reyes said in a message to the campus on Tuesday night that the arrests were “not the outcome we had hoped for.”

“We have provided many paths forward for a resolution, including in our discussions today with protest representatives,” Reyes said in the statement. “Our message to this effect was delivered to the demonstrators in the encampment by the Demonstration Response and Safety Team. Demonstrators rejected our offers for continued civil discourse to help bridge our differences and refused to dismantle their encampment. While we have told demonstrators that failure to remove the tents and barriers may result in arrests, this is not the outcome we had hoped for.”

More than a dozen police vehicles arrived on campus in the late afternoon on Tuesday, a few hours after the pro-Palestinian encampment was set up on the student union’s south lawn. Police and protesters initially did not engage with each other as student leaders met with UMass administrators, including Reyes, to discuss their demands, which include that the university disclose partnerships with companies affiliated with Israel.

Bella Falotico, a senior at UMass, said she noticed state, UMass, and Amherst police mobilized on campus before the negotiations meeting with Reyes had concluded. She also noted Special Emergency Response Team officers. The police moved in on the encampment after the meeting ended, Falotico said.

“We were there for a number of hours before the police arrived, and within that time there was not an ounce of violence,” said Falotico, a member of the UMass Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. “They were the only violent presence, the only brutal presence at that encampment … Any escalation that happened last night is solely because [the administration] chose to send state police, the state rapid response team, and UMass police to a peaceful demonstration.”

Police were equipped with riot gear and “displayed an absurd amount of brutality and force,” Falotico said over the phone Wednesday, adding that she saw police pull protesters from the crowd and tackle them. Falotico herself was not arrested Tuesday, but was one of more than 50 UMass students who were arrested at a similar protest last semester.

“There were people who were injured by the police,” Falotico said. “All of this happened within 12 hours of reestablishing the encampment.”

UMass student protesters had erected a similar encampment the previous week, but took it down after one night due to threats of arrest from administration, Falotico said. Organizers took the week to regroup and prepare for police interaction, she said, before reestablishing the camp Tuesday.

By 1 p.m., student protesters had set up about 20 tents and enclosed it using wooden fences and pallets. The demonstrators grouped themselves into teams based on their willingness to be arrested by police, with the “red team” inside the encampment willing to face arrest and the “orange team” of 20 to 30 protesters keeping watch outside. Some protesters linked arms around the camp.

On Wednesday morning, the ACLU of Massachusetts voiced concern about the arrests at UMass.

“While other campuses across the country have engaged demonstrators in productive dialogue, we are highly concerned that University of Massachusetts Amherst leaders chose to invite armed police into a campus protest environment,” Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in a statement.

“When universities choose to involve police in nonviolent demonstrations, it escalates tensions and creates unacceptable safety risks for all students, faculty, and community members,” Rose said. “Campus administrators have an obligation to protect students’ safety on campus; at the same time, they must take all necessary measures to protect students’ right to protest. Calling heavily armed police on student political expression is an inherently dangerous choice.

“With protests ongoing, including at Harvard and MIT, the ACLU continues to urge campus officials and police to show restraint and engage in dialogue and other nonviolent approaches — not force.”

Stephen Karam, chair of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees, said in the statement that the board has “full and unwavering support” for Reyes.

“We have absolute confidence in his leadership, his integrity, and his commitment to our students,” the statement said.

Protest leaders from Students for Justice in Palestine and UMass Dissenters said they had met with the administration at 4:30 p.m. and requested that UMass meet at least two of their demands, which were to divest from those profiting from the war, cut ties with Raytheon and study abroad programs with Israel, and drop civil charges for 57 students arrested in October during another protest.

The meeting had not gone as they hoped, they said, and they encouraged demonstrators to remain there and protect the encampment.

At 7:25 p.m., about 30 officers in riot gear from the three departments started to move into the protest area and instructed everyone to disperse. Roughly 100 protesters linked arms and surrounded the encampment, while about 300 others were pushed off the lawn and police began taking protesters into custody, in groups of five, from inside the enclosure.

Officers, some armed with paintball guns, crowbars, and batons, arrested protesters who were using “active resistance” to surround the encampment or within the encampment enclosure. Some protestors were threatened with pepper spray if they approached officers who were making arrests, according to student journalists from the Massachusetts Daily Collegian who were on site.

Jake Fitzpatrick, a UMass freshman, said at 9:15 p.m. the police “formed a big line.” Fitzpatrick said he was pushed up against a light post by police trying to control the crowd, and was told he needs to move immediately or “he’s going to get shot.” As Fitzpatrick tried to move, another cop came running after him.

“At that point I sprint. I’m like, ‘I’m done with that,’” Fitzpatrick said. “I don’t know what he meant by ‘shot’— I assume, like, paintball or pepper [spray].”

By 1:30 a.m., the tents, signs, and barriers at the encampment had all been taken down and disposed of by police. Around 70 people remained protesting on the lawn, while the UMass Police Department overflowed and officers began holding arrested individuals at the Mullins Center, the campus arena.

According to the court, those arrested will be arraigned in the Eastern Hampshire District Court next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

John Ellement of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

This breaking news story will be updated.