On May 4th at around 12 PM UVA administration called upon local and state police to forcibly remove students from protesting on the lawn. Students had gathered in a “Liberation Zone for Gaza” protesting the genocide in Gaza, calling for the university’s divestments from any investments supporting the current military action against civilians in Gaza. Police officers in riot gear pushed protesters off of university property, pepper spraying and arresting those that did not leave.
The UVA alert system sent out a series of messages to students to inform them “UVA Emergency Alert: Police Activity at the Rotunda/Chapel area. Avoid the area.” By 2:41 PM, students received an alert stating: “UVA Emergency Alert: Unlawful assembly has been declared at the Rotunda/Chapel area. Avoid the area”. By this time, dozens of students were assaulted by police and arrested.
At the beginning of the day, there were approximately 20 people protesting on the lawn and a handful of tents present. UVA administration claims that they had to involve the police because protesters were violating a policy against tents on university property without permits. However, University administration has been accused of changing university policy that morning at 9:54 AM so that they would have legal grounds to arrest these students and remove them from the lawn.
University documents have surfaced and spread amongst students showing how university policy was changed only hours before students were pepper sprayed, pushed, and arrested for peacefully protesting. As of May 4th, the university official policy on tents (from the UVA Environmental Health And Safety Fire Safety Regulations”) was as follows:
“All tents and air supported structures erected on State Property or paid for by UVA funds are to be approved and inspected by UVA Fire Safety personnel prior to use. All tests and air supported structures in excess of 400 square feet require a permit. Permits may obtained through the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). Recreational tents for camping are exempt.“
The policy was silently changed to read:
“All tents and air supported structures erected on State Property or paid for by UVA funds are to be approved and inspected by UVA Fire Safety personnel prior to use. All tests and air supported structures in excess of 400 square feet require a permit. Permits may obtained through the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). “
This change in policy effectively removed prior exemptions for recreational tents used by protesters. (In addition to this, I would like to mention that there were more umbrellas present than tents — umbrellas that students used to shield themselves from tear gas).
Once police were called in, there were approximately 1,000 students present — some joining the protest and some watching as mere spectators. Many students took photos and videos to capture the violent dispersion of the protest. In today’s culture, there is no tolerance for university administration falsely misrepresenting protest efforts on grounds. We all have access to the footage of what transpired. The university has called these protesters “individuals … who have presented safety concerns”, “agitated”, committing “physical confrontation and attempted assault”. UVA students and those within the Charlottesville community that were present at the protest know this to be false. This malicious false portrayal of students is harmful, and these lies call into question the legitimacy of university relations when they are intentionally written to spread misinformation.
What began as a small, peaceful protest was quickly escalated into a dangerous situation by the presence of police. These students in no way threatened the safety of our university, and for President Jim Ryan to claim this in university communications with students is grossly irresponsible. We all know that what transpired today has far more to do with satisfying UVA donors and political pressure than upholding public safety.
It is truly alarming when we, as a community, have to rely on the communications of student organizations and our peers’ video recordings to receive truthful news about community crises.
Please note: this piece was updated as of May 4th, 11:12 PM and will be edited with details and more information as they become publicly available.