Police arrest Stanford who barricaded themselves inside president’s office

Police at Stanford University arrested a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had barricaded themselves inside the campus president’s office on Wednesday morning to demand that the school divest from Israel.

A group of about a dozen students staged an occupation of the office of Richard Saller, Stanford’s president, while roughly 50 others linked arms outside, the Stanford Daily reported. The group entered the building around 6am on Wednesday, the final day of classes for the spring quarter, and said they intended to stay until the university met its demands.

“Stanford students have tried, repeatedly, to engage with administration through protest,” the students said in a statement, noting there have been more than 20 rallies since October. “Each time, administration has refused. The university is profiting off the genocide of Palestinians as we speak.”

The university confirmed the takeover, saying in a statement that “a group of individuals this morning unlawfully entered Building 10, which houses the offices of the president and provost”.

Police entered the building around 7.35am and arrested 13 people, including a student journalist, the Daily reported.

The action at Stanford follows a wave of protests at universities across the US over the violence in Gaza. Student activists have demanded that their schools divest from companies profiting from the war in Gaza as well as Israel itself.

Police have arrested thousands of people at the largely non-violent protests on campuses from California to New York. Within the University of California, academic workers are on strike over the system’s crackdown on demonstrations.