Protests are breaking out throughout the nation in opposition to the war between Israel and Hamas and the role the U.S. plays in it.
At Indiana University, students and faculty are pressuring the university to divest from Israel.
IU Divestment Coalition spokesperson Bryce Greene said the group hopes to remain in Dunn Meadow until their demands are met.
Read more: Pro-Palestine protestors arrested at IU
You can follow our news team throughout the day on here and on X @WFIUWTIUNews.
Monday, April 29
5:30 p.m.
IU Bloomington Faculty President Colin Johnson wrote an open letter, calling for IU President Pamela Whitten's resignation. In the letter, Johnson criticizes the administrations decision to enact a new policy against temporary structures on IU's designated free speech zone.
His letter said:
"Despite (Whitten's) recent promises to listen and learn, I am very skeptical that President Whitten is likely do either. Rather, I strongly suspect that what she will continue to do is what she has done for the past three years, which is make one questionable decision after another resulting in one terrible headline after another, and then blame the chaos she has played an integral role in creating on somebody else, or on circ*mstances beyond her control. That is something, but it is not leadership."
Open Letter - 4.29.24 Colin (1) by Indiana Public Media News on Scribd
2:30 p.m.
Vesperini reports the protest at Dunn Meadow has a Med Team, and about 20 people have been taught CPR and other medical practices.
2:30 p.m.
WFIU/WTIU News Reporter went to Dunn Meadow, where students are congregated.
At this time, people are playing cards, doing work and helping set up for lunch. Things remain peaceful.@WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/pX5lvq9kyO
— Isabella Vesperini (@IVesperini) April 29, 2024
Noon
Protesters are moving to Dunn Meadow now. Speeches are ending @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/eJRr7vyEX9
— Ethan Sandweiss (@the_real_sand) April 29, 2024
11:30 a.m.
Indiana University Police have blocked off Indiana Avenue, where protesters have gathered.
Protesters pass around a petition for faculty to sign asking trustees to remove Whitten
— Ethan Sandweiss (@the_real_sand) April 29, 2024
10:30 a.m.
Grad student Matthew Rodriguez on IU's late game policy change for tents in Dunn Meadow @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/0RS2Pmjroh
— Ethan Sandweiss (@the_real_sand) April 29, 2024
10:00 a.m.
Protesters head to Bryan Hall for a faculty protest calling for the resignation ofIU President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav, and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty
Large crowds continue to build @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/oTpMprMwiF
— Ethan Sandweiss (@the_real_sand) April 29, 2024
9:20 a.m.
Bryce Greene of the IU Divestment Coalition gives a press conference this morning outside Dunn Meadow. He says they will continue to implement safety procedures in case of further police activity. @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/mRXFJq11PN
— Ethan Sandweiss (@the_real_sand) April 29, 2024See AlsoLIVE UPDATES: Scenes from the third day of Gaza protest, encampment on IU campus33 people detained on Indiana University’s campus during protests, police sayIU faculty, schools respond to Dunn Meadow arrests‘Utterly unprincipled’: Policy created on eve of protest used to make arrests
Just before the rally, IU Diverstment Coalition's Bryce Greene gave a press conference near Dunn Meadow by East Seventh Street. He was arrested with other students over the weekend. He faces a disdemeanor charge for trespassing and a five year ban from campus.
Greene reiterated the coalition’s goals: to investigate IU’s ties to Israel and the military industrial complex, and for IU to divest from groups profiting from the war. The group also wants IU President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav, and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty to resign.
8:30 a.m.
Today I'll be covering day five of the ongoing protests at @IndianaUniv against the university's financial ties with @Israel, conduct of IU administrators, and partnership with @NAVSEACrane. 23 protesters were arrested this weekend, including students. @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/EMGf60kR7W
— Ethan Sandweiss (@the_real_sand) April 29, 2024
Sunday, April 28
8:30 p.m.
IU President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav sent an update out explaining the university's decisions and how they plan to move forward.
The update saysShrivastav met withstudent leaders from Union Board and IU Student Government, as well as the President-Elect of the Bloomington Faculty Council, among others.
"With their insight, we are in the process of appointing a taskforce of student leaders and representatives of the Bloomington Faculty Council to review our event protocols and make recommendations to guide activities on campus, particularly in Dunn Meadow, moving forward."
Additionally, they said they are in the process of approving a formal request from a student organization to set up a temporary structure in Dunn Meadow.
"This request will be contingent on a set of mutually agreed parameters. We anticipate the request to be approved—with the possibility of renewal—in 48-hour increments."
The update confirms that students and faculty that were arrested will be able to complete their semester on campus by appealing their trespass warnings through IUPD.
The update also states the reasoning for the updated structure policy is due to "a troubling rise in antisemitism nationally and on college campuses... linked to this national encampment campaign."
2:30 p.m.
IU's Journalism unit sent an open letter to Whitten,Shrivastav and other administration today asking them to "halt further police action and surveillance, apologize to those arrested and reinstate their campus access, and restore the previous policy regarding Dunn Meadow demonstrations." The full letter reads as follows:
"The overwhelming majority of faculty in The Media School, with support from select emeriti and retired faculty, condemn the university administration’s repressive crackdown on protests in Dunn Meadow. Administrative response has grown increasingly militarized and threatening to student safety, with at least one Media School student among those who have been injured by police over the past several days.
"IU’s Board of Trustees in 1969 designated Dunn Meadow as a public forum, and since then it has been the site of countless vigorous demonstrations of public expression. Such demonstrations are a hallmark both of a dynamic intellectual environment and our treasured rights as citizens under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The recent protests were not the first to involve participants setting up tents and supplies in anticipation of a lengthy demonstration, but sadly, this is the first time in recent memory that the IU administration reacted with such brute force.The administration has crossed a red line by choosing an authoritarian stance that is antithetical to the mission of an institution of higher learning. In so doing, it has damaged the university’s credibility and moral center.
"The administration’s decision to call inriot troops toassault and arrest students and faculty who are protesting peacefully has shattered our university’s most cherished values, and authorizing armed police on campus rooftops has endangered us all. In choosing intimidation, the university has violated the rights of academic freedom and freedom of expression. And in summarily banning arrestees from campus for one year, it has ignored fundamental rights of due process.
"By justifying these decisions under the guise of a questionable last-minute policy change, the administration has also demonstrated contempt for our core principle of shared governance. Further, given the nature of the policy change, it bears the characteristics of a content-discrimination action, the kind that courts have for many years found unconstitutional. The university not only endangers the campus by over-reacting but also risks financial loss when arrested students and faculty inevitably file lawsuits.
"As a faculty expressly charged with teaching our students about these values in the pursuit of journalism and other expressions of public communication, we strongly dissent from these anti-democratic acts. How can we instill respect for core principles of democratic life when our own administration fails to live up to them? We call on the IU administration to halt further police action and surveillance, apologize to those arrested and reinstate their campus access, and restore the previous policy regarding Dunn Meadow demonstrations. We further call on the Bloomington Faculty Council to investigate these violations of faculty governance, academic freedom, freedom of expression and due process, and call for those responsible to be held accountable. It is critical that we expose the root of this shameful chapter in IU’s history."
12 p.m.
Additional state and local officials have released statements on the protests.
The Indiana Memorial Union Board released a statement Saturday calling for university administration to clarify what business the Indiana State Police conducted in its building.
"Students perceived that there was a sniper on the roof of the IMU. Students on our Board also watched as Indiana State Police walked throughour office with guns. We were never initially consulted or notified about the State Police setting up on our roof."
The statement continues, "We've been unofficially told that the officer on our roof was holding a scope rather than a firearm... considering the photos circling social media, this casual explanation is far from compelling."
Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson released an apology Sunday afternoon to clarify her original statements.
"In my message about the protests yesterday, I made a statement about the presence of outside groups," she said. "We had reports of Proud Boys and other involvement, and I had concern about the possibility of escalation beyond what our students and faculty present on campus were gathered to achieve."
Senator Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington) said she is "deeply concerned with the arrests of students, staff and faculty for exercising their First Amendmentrights."
"The widely reported change in policy regarding tents and structures by IU’s Administration on the eve of these protests—which was then used as justification to arrest peaceful protestors and ban them from campus property for a year—is incredibly disturbing," she said. "Free speech is only protected for all when there are clear and consistent rules enforced—not when rules are changed overnight and established processes are ignored."
A statement from theIndiana Senate Democrats also shared the same sentiments, calling for the university todeescalate the situation by asking police to leave room for peaceful protesting.
Saturday, April 27
8:00 p.m.
More state and local officials are weighing in on Indiana University's response to the Dunn Meadow arrests.
— Indiana House Democrats (@inhsedems) April 26, 2024State Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) released a statement calling IU's handling of peaceful protests on campus a "textbook violation of the First Amendment."
See his full statement here: https://t.co/bhDJJNORDQ
Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson released this video Saturday afternoon.
"This was not a response that the Bloomington police were involved in. I support freedom of speech and the ability of our residents to express themselves in a peaceful manner. What’s happening at Dunn Meadow is part of a national movement on college campuses and has attracted some who are believed to have an outside agenda and indeed be from outside our community."
5:30 p.m.
The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition saidIU Divestment Coalition spokesperson Bryce Greene received a 5-year ban from campus. This is the longest ban given out so far. IGWC is calling his arrest "racist and targeted."
2:40 p.m.
IUPD confirmed 23 people were arrested for charges ranging from criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement.
2 p.m.
Protesters are re-routing to the Monroe County Jail as well as back to Dunn Meadow.
With maybe 75 protesters marching from the field house back to Dunn Meadow @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/XZK9YKNcGd
— aubrey wright (@aubreymwright) April 27, 2024
1:30 p.m.
Protesters are moving toward the Gladstein Fieldhouse, which is where those arrested were held Thursday.
1:20 p.m.
IU Divestment Coalition estimates more than 20 people were arrested. Police appear to be backing off now that they have cleared out most of the supplies.
“Free, Free Palestine” and “pigs go home” chanted as police back up, seem to be leaving the meadow at @IUBloomington. pic.twitter.com/MVDR93KBS0
— aubrey wright (@aubreymwright) April 27, 2024
12:40 p.m.
Some tents were taken down with ISP warnings. Around 12:45 all tents were removed. Police have begun detaining protesters, includingIU Divestment Coalition spokesperson Bryce Greene, who was also detained Thursday. Around 12:50 police began seizing tents and supplies.
Dunn Meadow @IUBloomington pic.twitter.com/cRq8IBN1UJ
— aubrey wright (@aubreymwright) April 27, 2024
Stand-off. Some maybe 5 people arrested now. @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/IrTYyBDfMv
— aubrey wright (@aubreymwright) April 27, 2024
Police brought out the trash bags while protesters continue to chant pic.twitter.com/8BH8MM9jqz
— aubrey wright (@aubreymwright) April 27, 2024
12:30 p.m.
Indiana State Police in full gear have returned to Dunn Meadow. They are saying they will clear the tents.
9 a.m.
First sunrise over Bloomington's (rebuilt) Gaza solidarity encampment. Many more tents went up overnight. Indiana University police surrounded the camp early this morning but didn't otherwise interfere. Protesters say they'll remain on campus until IU divests from Israel. pic.twitter.com/fUIfrym0zg
— George Hale (@georgehale) April 27, 2024
Friday, April 26
6:30 p.m.
Protesters in Bloomington are forming a barrier to protect their Gaza solidarity encampment after Indiana University police started gathering across the street moments ago. A helicopter just showed up above us, too pic.twitter.com/zJtZrIMBBt
— George Hale (@georgehale) April 26, 2024
5 p.m.
No arrests have been made today, IUPD confirmed.
Chris Daley, executive director of Indiana ACLU, spoke with WTIU's George Hale.
"Our college campuses are obviously the heart and soul of free speech in our country, and none of the actions by the university or the Indiana State Police seem to be aligned with our free speech principles in this country," he said.
4:30 p.m.
ISP and protesters gather near Franklin Hall. Protesters are returning to Dunn Meadow.
HEAVY state police presence behind Franklin Hall @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/3yhTNqHsHO
— Cali Lichter (@CaliLichter) April 26, 2024
4 p.m.
Protesters are moving over to Franklin Hall.
Indiana University spokesperson Mark Bode sent the following statement to the WFIU/WTIU newsroom regarding the trespass bans:
"We encourage affected faculty and students to engage in the appeals process by contacting IUPD. Trespass ban notices will be suspended during the appeals process in nearly all cases. This will allow these students and faculty to complete the semester."
3:30 p.m.
Sgt. Kevin Getz with Indiana State Police said as of 3:35 p.m. there have been no arrests associated with the Dunn Meadow event. He also confirmed that there were personnel on the roof of the Indiana Memorial Union, but declined to provide additional information.
Only two tents in the meadow. Very little police presence @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/ScH6I5xJGv
— Cali Lichter (@CaliLichter) April 26, 2024
2 p.m.
Indiana State Police are starting to enter campus. Demonstrators have locked arms in a protective circle.
Protesters have started to form a circle around several tents. They’re saying they will “hold their ground.” pic.twitter.com/tmaaCu9MHL
— Lucas González (@fez_irl) April 26, 2024
1 p.m.
WTIU's higher education reporter Aubrey Wright spoke with protesters. They believe police will show up during the group'sJummah prayer.
A Jummah prayer will take place in about an hour. That’s when protesters believe police will show up. pic.twitter.com/3qJd2u8I1Z
— aubrey wright (@aubreymwright) April 26, 2024
12:30 p.m.
On WFIU's Noon Edition, FIRE attorney Josh Bleisch says there was no practical way for students to comply with IU's new policy to pre-approve tents in Dunn Meadow, since the policy was changed so soon before protests.
— aubrey wright (@aubreymwright) April 26, 2024A few more tents up. No police in sight right now.
To me, organizers seem more collected and prepared today than yesterday. pic.twitter.com/KVwwjT7nPu
12 p.m.
IUPD Public Information Officer Hannah Skibba said all 34 people who were arrested in Dunn Meadow yesterday received a 1-year trespass warning, meaning they are not allowed on any IU property. Those who do not comply could be arrested for criminal trespass.
IUPD is passing out fliers to protesters with the same information as yesterday.
— aubrey wright (@aubreymwright) April 26, 2024Back at Dunn Meadow for @WFIUWTIUNews
5 tents up again so far, and more supplies on the way. Police made their first round through the group passing out flyers with IU’s new policy. Maybe 75+ people here. pic.twitter.com/WOMwqxIdEM
Today on Noon Edition, we are discussing campus protests and the first amendment. Listen live here.
11:30 a.m.
One tent has been set up in Dunn Meadow so far this morning as faculty join protesters in the second day of protests against Indiana University's involvement in the Israel-Hamas war.
Protesters have started up a chant and set up a tent at Dunn Meadow for the second day of protests at IU. The group is pressuring the university to divest from Israel and plans to continue protests until their demands are met. pic.twitter.com/3ikVhI0zaA
— WFIU/WTIU News (@WFIUWTIUNews) April 26, 2024
11 a.m.
Some faculty say they plan to boycott graduation, and may not finish grading assignments. Faculty is moving to Dunn Meadow where they will join theIU Divestment Coalition.
IU faculty are moving over to Dunn Meadow, where they will join IU Divestment Coalition in protest. Some faculty are calling for graduation boycotts and may not finish grading assignments or submit final grades. pic.twitter.com/1pZChX2jhN
— WFIU/WTIU News (@WFIUWTIUNews) April 26, 2024
10:30 a.m.
Indiana University faculty spoke outside Bryan Hall. One speaker, Ben Robinson, spoke from across the street because he was banned from campus yesterday following his arrest.
IU faculty are gathered near Sample Gates this morning to speak on Thursday's protests. pic.twitter.com/8QTC9Mrr3L
— WFIU/WTIU News (@WFIUWTIUNews) April 26, 2024
9 a.m.
Protestors set up over a dozen tents around 11 a.m. Thursday.
A change in policy by an ad hoc committee created by IU administration Wednesday updated assembly policy to only allow pre-approved structures like tents. The policy also includes that posters may be removed.
IU president Pamela Whitten said in a letter to faculty Thursday night “the change was posted online and at Dunn Meadow (Thursday) morning, and participants were told repeatedly that they were free to stay and protest, but that any tent would need to be dismantled.”
IU has allowed temporary structures without prior approval in Dunn Meadow since 1969.
Thirty-three people were arrested and transported to the Monroe County Jail on an IU bus, according to the IU Police Department.
Today, there will be continued protests in Dunn Meadow at 11, and faculty protests at 10 at Bryan Hall.
