Editor's note, May 2, 11:46 a.m.: The university has just released a statement that revised the number of protesters arrested to 15, among other clarifications and new statements. This article will remain in the condition in which it was published, but a new story can be found here.
Police arrested “approximately 16” pro-Palestine protesters on North Campus Wednesday evening, a UB spokesperson said. The arrests come after dozens of demonstrators attempted to form an encampment in a grassy area near Hochstetter Hall.
One of those arrested, a 67-year-old man, was taken to the hospital for an arm injury, the spokesperson said. He is not believed to be a UB student or employee.
At 8 p.m., police ordered the protesters gathered outside of Hochstetter to disperse before 8:22 p.m. or face arrest. The officers originally intended to begin making arrests at 8:17 p.m. but delayed intervention by five minutes to accommodate some protesters’ sunset prayer.
Most protesters remained in place with locked arms as police closed in, chanting “free Palestine” and “end genocide.” Others were arrested and placed into marked police cars or onto a UB Stampede bus. Police chased the crowd toward Mary Talbert Way, continuing to make arrests.
Multiple officers tackled protesters. One officer was filmed pushing a demonstrator’s face into the ground. Another ripped a protester’s hijab off in a since-deleted video posted to the UB Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Instagram story.
A small number of protesters briefly barricaded themselves in Capen Hall, which houses many of UB’s administrative offices.
A Stampede bus carrying roughly 10 detained protesters left campus around 9 p.m. The protesters inside could be heard chanting “free Palestine” as the bus drove by Hochstetter.
After protesters had largely dispersed, police returned to the site of the attempted encampment and Founders Plaza. They confiscated belongings left at the site.
Police arrested “approximately 16” pro-Palestine protesters who refused police orders to leave the area at sunset.
The demonstration came the day after New York City police arrested 282 people in a raid at Columbia University and City College of New York Tuesday night. Students at Columbia had taken over Hamilton Hall early Tuesday morning after nearly two weeks of encampments.
Pro-Palestinian UB students have staged multiple demonstrations since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli bombardment of Gaza, but Wednesday marks the first time pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at UB. UB students have also organized a much smaller number of pro-Israel rallies.
From a ‘quick march’ to 16 arrests
The day’s demonstrations began at 3 p.m., when protesters gathered outside the Student Union and marched through the academic spine to Capen Hall.
Hussain, a SUNY Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) organizer who asked that her first name be withheld, said demonstrators want UB and the UB Foundation to cut ties with Israel.
“We want financial divestment of all stocks, funds, partnerships, endowments and other monetary instruments from companies complicit in human rights abuse in Palestine,” she said. “We want an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and universities, and we demand financial investments into education on Palestinian culture, literature, social movements, history and diaspora. That’s to the UB administration.”
Outside law enforcement officers arrived shortly after the march started to provide backup, coming from the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, State Police, Amherst, Kenmore and both the town and city of Tonawanda. Officers from those departments left but returned around 7:45 p.m. A UB spokesperson told The Spectrum that UB requested the outside officers come “as a precaution” and to “provide UPD with additional support if needed.”
Demonstrators picketed outside Hochstetter Hall for just over five hours Wednesday evening.
After arriving at Capen Hall, protesters began setting up tents in the lawn next to Hochstetter Hall. An officer speaking through a loudspeaker ordered the protesters to disassemble those tents and place them on a nearby sidewalk within 20 minutes or face arrest. They cited a university policy from 2020 that “prohibits indoor and outdoor encampments” and “overnight assemblies.” Three students driving a U-Haul van with additional wooden pallets for the encampment were ordered to drive away from the crowd.
In response to the order to break up the camp, protesters booed the officers, shouting that UB was “our school” and that they were “legally allowed to remain for 12 hours.”
The protesters still complied with the police order and removed their tents, transitioning to a sit-in.
Some protesters hurled insults at officers, who at times responded with insults in kind. In response to taunts, one officer accused two protesters of being antisemitic. Another officer carried a baton.
One Buffalo Police lieutenant pushed a Spectrum editor attempting to film the arrests and told him to "get the f—k out of here." When the editor identified himself as media, the officer said, "I don't care."
Some protesters left in the minutes before police started making arrests, but returned once law enforcement left. To prepare for potential arrests, a demonstrator wrote a phone number for the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) on multiple fellow demonstrators.
UB students, staff respond
Watching the events unfold, Dean of Students Tomás Aguirre said he was disgusted at the treatment of protesters and concerned about the number of non-students involved in the protest.
“I felt like throwing up,” Aguirre said about the the demonstration. “I felt like my heart was gonna break because I care about our students so much.”
About a dozen protesters declined to speak to The Spectrum, saying they feared administrative retaliation and online harassment.
During the protest, UB released a statement saying it “stands firmly against antisemitism, Islamophobia and discrimination of any form.”
“The university is deeply cognizant of the many ways in which the unimaginable loss of life and immense scale of human suffering have raised very important and complex issues,” the statement reads. “Grappling with these issues brings forward differing opinions, perspectives and impacts among the UB community.”
Hussain described UB’s statement as “just another way to attack students’ right to demonstrations, right to focus, and students’ right to hold their administration accountable.”
“They’re trying to quell a student voice. This is our right…this is our money, our school. We have a right to hold our institution accountable,” Hussain said. “We are standing on the side of human rights, of international justice and of all the civilians who have been killed by Israel in Palestine.”
Protesters linked arms around fellow, praying demonstrators as police prepared to clear the area.
Though there were no announced counter-protests, some Jewish Student Union members laughed at the pro-Palestine demonstrators. One did push-ups next to the protest. While police were arresting demonstrators, two individuals held up an Israeli flag. One shouted, “F—k those terrorists.”
SA President Becky Paul-Odionhin briefly stopped by the protest and declined to comment.
University Police referred questions to a UB spokesperson.
In an Instagram post, UB’s chapter of SUNY BDS posted a bail fund Venmo account for those arrested.
Dominick Matarese, Sarah Owusu and Ricardo Castillo all contributed to this reporting.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify the context surrounding what Tomás Aguirre told The Spectrum and to provide additional information about the police officer who pushed a Spectrum reporter.
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com
Ryan Tantalo is the managing editor of The Spectrum. He previously served as senior sports editor. Outside of the newsroom, Ryan spends his time announcing college hockey games, golfing, skiing and reading.
Grant Ashley is the editor in chief of The Spectrum. He's also reported for NPR, WBFO, WIVB and The Buffalo News. He enjoys taking long bike rides, baking with his parents’ ingredients and recreating Bob Ross paintings in crayon. He can be found on the platform formerly known as Twitter at @Grantrashley.
Mylien Lai is an assistant arts editor at The Spectrum. Outside of getting lost in Buffalo, she enjoys practicing the piano and being a bean plant mom. She can be found at @my_my_my_myliennnn on Instagram.
Photo: Rhododendrites / Wikimedia Commons
