Wednesday protest at Ohio State: what we know after protesters peacefully dispersed

Hundreds of protesters dispersed voluntarily Wednesday from a demonstration on the Ohio State University campus against the Israel-Hamas war and university investment in Israel, following last week's mass arrests on campus during a similar demonstration.

As darkness set in across campus and the temporary flood lights lit up the college green, the crowd had dispersed before 10 p.m. on Wednesday, the time when police began a mass arrest last Thursday, April 25, to clear the green of demonstrators, which saw law enforcement arrest 36 people.

Here's what we know about Wednesday's protest:

What happened at the pro-Palestine protest Wednesday?

Several hundred demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, chanted and prayed Wednesday on Ohio State University's South Oval, calling for an end to the violence in Gaza and urging OSU to cut ties with businesses linked to Israel. During the evening, demonstrators also distributed food amongst themselves.

More: Ohio State University says it legally can't divest from Israel - here's the law behind that

The demonstrators Wednesday did not set up tent encampments — which have become a visible symbol of the nationwide student movement — on the South Oval. That is unlike April 25, when protesters put up tents inside a semi-circle and attempted to defend the encampment from law enforcement.

While there was a police presence Wednesday, it remained mostly muted compared to April 25 and the visible police presence diminished as time went on.

More: Protesters peacefully dispersed after hundreds gathered Wednesday at Ohio State

The only sign of confrontation between protesters and police was when protesters gathered around some OSU bicycle officers close to the rear of the demonstration and asked them to move away so there was room for more protesters. The officers did not move. Two faculty members appeared to help diffuse the momentary situation.

Around 9 p.m., the crowd began to voluntarily disperse at the request of organizers as flood lights lit up the green. Only a handful remained lingering by 10 p.m. and police appeared to have largely stood down.

Was anybody arrested Wednesday?

The Dispatch did not witness any arrests Wednesday during the over three hours that protesters occupied the South Oval, and OSU spokesperson Ben Johnson confirmed Wednesday night that nobody had been arrested.

How many total people have been arrested during Ohio State protests?

Wednesday's demonstrations comes on the heels of a week of on-campus protests and arrests at OSU.

On April 23, two Ohio State students were arrested during a peaceful on-campus protest. The next day, three more people were arrested on campus after students tried to set up an encampment on the South Oval. Then, on April 25, 36 people were arrested — 16 people affiliated with OSU and 20 unaffiliated — after nearly six hours of chants, prayers and reconstruction of tents.

More: Columbus City Attorney says he's reviewing Ohio State arrest cases from April protests

What has OSU President Ted Carter said about the protests?

Ohio State President Ted Carter said in a stern email Monday afternoon that the university "will not be overtaken" by protests as other campuses have across the country.

"As a public university, demonstrations, protests and disagreement regularly occur on our campus — so much so that we have trained staff and public safety professionals on-site for student demonstrations for safety and to support everyone’s right to engage in these activities," Carter said.

"Sadly, in recent days, I have watched significant safety issues be created by encampments on other campuses across our nation," he continued. "These situations have caused in-person learning and commencement ceremonies to be canceled. Ohio State’s campus will not be overtaken in this manner."

Ohio State wrapped up the academic year on Tuesday with the end of spring semester exam week. Commencement is scheduled for Sunday at Ohio Stadium.

Ohio State one of many college campuses protesting Israel-Hamas war

College students from coast to coast have been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and demanding their schools divest from Israel since last year's Oct. 7 attack. But tensions heightened over the two weeks after more than a hundred students were arrested at Columbia University.

Tent encampments on college campuses have become a visible symbol of a student movement that has spread nationwide, from elite universities like Harvard University to public schools similar to OSU like the University of Texas at Austin.

Police in riot gear swept onto the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, early Wednesday, hours after New York City police retook control of an administrative building at Columbia University as opposition to Israel's war in Gaza continued to roll through universities across the nation, USA Today reported.

In Ohio, police at Case Western Reserve University detained 22 protesters in support of Palestine during demonstrations earlier this week. None of those individuals were ultimately arrested. Students and faculty at Denison University in Granville held a protest Tuesday calling on the university to divest.

OSU can't legally divest from Israel under state law, university says

Ohio State University has previously said it would not even be possible for the university to divest from Israel like the protesters are demanding, The Dispatch previously reported.

Ohio Revised Code (ORC) Section 9.76 — which was signed into law by then-Gov. John Kasich in 2016 and later amended in 2022 — prohibits state agencies like universities from contracting with companies that are boycotting or disinvesting from Israel.

While this section of the law doesn't explicitly state that universities are prohibited from divesting from Israel, Ohio Attorney General's Office spokesperson Bethany McCorkle said the law has that effect anyway.

"The university cannot do itself what it is prohibited from doing through others. Allowing a wholesale boycott and divestiture by a university would circumvent the law and render it meaningless," she said.

Dispatch reporters Shahid Meighan and Sheridan Hendrix contributed to this report.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What to know : Ohio State protestors peacefully dispersed Wednesday