Maryam Alwan figured the worst was over after New York City police in riot gear arrested her and other protesters on the Columbia University campus, loaded them onto buses and held them in custody for hours.
But the next evening, the college junior received an email from the university. Alwan and other students were being suspended after their arrests at the “ Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” a tactic colleges across the country have deployed to calm growing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
The students’ plight has become a central part of protests, with students and a growing number of faculty demanding their amnesty. At issue is whether universities and law enforcement will clear the charges and withhold other consequences, or whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students into their adult lives.
Holy shit the faculty against this need to strike immediately in solidarity. What the fuck sort of dystopia are we in that students are arrested and suspended for protesting? For protesting genocide? What the actual fuck.
Google called the police on and fired anyone remotely involved with the quiet sit-in in protest of Project Nimbus. No investigation, no finesse, nothing. Just straight up intimidation.