IU protests and police action draw criticism, defense

Tension between police and student protesters enveloped Indiana University’s Bloomington campus in recent days as arrests mounted along with distrust in IU leadership after a change to long-standing policy the day before the initial protest.

Gov. Eric Holcomb defended police action, in which Indiana State Police have taken a lead role, while Democrats in the legislature called out the administration for trampling on free speech rights.

“We are concerned for the safety of students, faculty and staff and for their ongoing rights to free speech. Students should be able to voice their views on campus in non-violent ways without fear of retribution. The First Amendment is one of the founding blocks to a successful democracy and this infringement on demonstration, in our opinion, is a violation of both state and federal constitutional rights,” said a statement from the Indiana Senate Democratic Caucus.

“What we are seeing on the news and hearing from firsthand accounts gives us great concern that First Amendment Rights and even personal safety could be at risk on the Indiana University Campus. While we understand this is a fluid situation we still worry about the sheer amount of police in riot gear, including snipers, called in to manage what has been reported as a peaceful protest.”

Police snipers were spotted on top of IU buildings at various times over the last four days.

The protesters disagree with continued bombing of Palestinian people across the Gaza strip and called for IU to sever financial ties with Israel. Counter-protesters supporting Israel have also been present.

IU’s actions have been highlighted in several national publications, including the New York Times and Washington Post.

‘Play by the rules’

But Holcomb told reporters Friday that the state police “will of course continue to do their job. And that is to serve and protect all and make sure that protests can occur and the freedom to speak out for and against issues that may be emotional in nature. But there will be law and order.”

“We can peacefully protest and you can express your emotionally charged opinion but you’re not going to infringe on other people’s rights. And you’re not going to deter people from getting a good education,” he said.

When asked where to draw the line on police involvement during a peaceful protest he said, “The locals establish those local rules … So I would say play by the rules like everybody else has to or they will be administered and enforced.”

It is those local rules that have drawn criticism. The day before the IU Divestment Coalition began their planned protest on April 25, IU updated a longstanding policy to forbid the use of structures like tents in Dunn Meadow without prior approval. They posted the new policy to their website the morning of April 25, writing that the original policy allowed them to create an ad hoc committee to make changes to policy. 

The original policy, which was created in 1969 and allowed temporary structures in Dunn Meadow during the day without approval, recommended the provost create a committee with a member of the IU Student Association, the Bloomington Faculty Council and a member appointed by the provost to advise policy changes and review denials of permission for overnight structures. However, IU Student Government, previously called IUSA, said the provost did not ask faculty or students to join the committee.

In an email to faculty Thursday, IU President Pamela Whitten said the last-minute policy change was made to balance safety and free speech.

“Our university must create a space for meaningful dialogue, while ensuring that our campus is safe and welcoming to all, and that peaceful protest, as many experienced today, symbolizes our steadfastness to the free expression of ideas,” Whitten wrote. 

After several warnings from police to remove tents on Thursday, Indiana State Police arrived to disperse the crowd. As ISP troopers pushed against the protesters, dragging people out of tents and detaining them, a large crowd of nonparticipating students and faculty looked on from the surrounding sides of the meadow. Some looked shocked and horrified, while others cheered and clapped for the arrests. 

Police ultimately arrested 33 people, most of them IU students or faculty, for charges ranging from criminal trespass to resisting arrest and battery, and loaded them onto IU campus buses to the Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse. After processing the protesters, they took them to the county jail, though almost all were released that day with future court dates. Many received notices from the IU Police Department banning them from IU property for a year for allegedly trespassing in Dunn Meadow.

On Friday, faculty led a protest in front of Bryan Hall, IU’s administration building. Protesters stayed overnight in tents with no police intervention, but an additional 23 people were arrested Saturday afternoon. More bans were handed out, including a student who was banned from campus for five years. Nearly all students can appeal their bans, an IU spokesman said. 

Protests continued on Sunday.

Faculty disapproves

Throughout the protests, several faculty and administrators condemned the university’s actions. Executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Rick Van Kooten wrote he had expressed “deep concern” to IU leadership while some leadership at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering offered support to students who had received a ban from campus. Faculty at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs overwhelmingly voted to recommend the immediate withdrawal of the new IU policy. 

The overwhelming temperature on campus remains high and distrust in IU leadership seems to have sunk to an all-time low. Earlier this month, over 800 faculty voted they had no confidence in IU’s president, provost and vice provost for faculty and academic affairs, citing a more than a semester of turmoil. Concerns about First Amendment violations given the last-minute policy change have been echoed by lawyers, including Josh Bleisch, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

“To us that really raises the specter of viewpoint discrimination in this case,” he said. 

He said banning students from campus raise concerns that the university may be engaging in prior restraint by creating fear that students’ protests won’t be considered protected speech. He said the last-minute change made it nearly impossible for students to ensure their protest abided by policy.

“Practically speaking, it seems like there was no way even if the students did want to comply with policy there’s no way for them to get permission before their plan was set to go off,” he said. 

While the events of the past few days have rattled the campus, students have continued pre-graduation festivities, popping champagne, taking photos and crowding downtown bars. As of publication, the protesters and their tents remain in Dunn Meadow.