Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at FSU, other Florida college campuses

Five pro-Palestinian protesters on Florida State University's campus were arrested on Tuesday afternoon.

Social media videos show that the arrests came shortly after several tents were erected on Landis Green, a central area on the Tallahassee campus filled with large lawns, paths and – over the last several days – chants against Israel and FSU's administration.

Anna Prentiss, an FSU spokesperson, said those arrested ignored "multiple requests and warnings to comply with a lawful order."

"Anyone who was arrested today made a conscious choice to engage in unlawful conduct," Prentiss said in an email. "The university’s rules and regulations had been explained repeatedly over several days and the group had been compliant until this afternoon."

Prentiss said two of the five arrested have been confirmed as students.

"Florida State University cherishes and upholds freedom of speech and all the other rights we enjoy in this country," Prentiss continued. "However, the expression of these rights must comply with university regulations and the law."

A leader from one of the organizations behind the protest said four of them were students.

"They are dead set on quashing any freedom of speech that we have, anything that makes FSU administration, especially President Richard McCullough, uncomfortable," said Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society Vice President Tavyan Dorsey, an FSU student.

"I still stand by the idea that putting up a tent is not a crime, and the fact that we have people arrested for that shows exactly where the university stands."

The Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society used to be affiliated with FSU, but the university suspended the group after it interrupted a meeting of its governing board with pro-Palestinian chants. Cas Casanova, former president of the group, started the chants.

“There was no physical violence, there was no altercations, there was no yelling from the people setting up tents,” said Casanova, now a member of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee who was on FSU campus when the five people were taken away by police. "They simply set up the tents and were grabbed and led away by FSUPD, like no resisting, no nothing."

At least two people have been charged with misdemeanor trespass on property after warning, according to court records.

Protesters on campus previously were warned about setting up tents. Last week, campus police made students and others gathered take down a handful that were set up for about five minutes on the grassy space The university has a regulation that prohibits camping on university land.

It's the second day in a row protesters were arrested on college campuses in Florida.

Demonstrations across the state and country have involved calls for divestment from Israel, citing the deaths of more than 34,000 Palestinian people who have died in Gaza amid Israel's bombardment and ground assault. That military campaign was triggered by Hamas' incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, when about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and more than 240 people were taken hostage.

On Monday, nine protesters at the University of Florida were arrested. Various charges include failure to obey police, resisting arrest without violence, wearing a hood or mask on public property, trespassing and felony battery.

The battery charge was filed against a student who spit on a University of Florida police officer who was helping an Florida Highway Patrol trooper escort another arrestee, according to an arrest report.

In a statement, a university spokesperson said in part: "This is not complicated: The University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children. They knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they'll face the consequences."

On the same day, three protesters on the University of South Florida's campus were arrested, according to newsreports.

The Gainesville Sun, the Tallahassee Democrat and USA TODAY contributed. This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA TODAY Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at FSU, other Florida campuses