U of U students set up pro-Gaza encampment
Apr 29, 2024, 6:35 PM | Updated: 8:17 pm
The block U appears on the front of the J. Willard Marriott Library on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. A team from the University of Utah will be working with low-income schools on how to reduce indoor air pollution and improve air quality. (Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)
(Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A University of Utah student-led organization set up an encampment on campus on Monday in solidarity with Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war. The effort joins a wave of other student-led protests on college campuses across the United States.]
According to Mecha de U of U, a student organization that calls itself anti-imperialist and socialist, the encampment was set up in solidarity with the people in Gaza.
In a social media post, Mecha listed the following demands of the university:
- Disclose ties to Israel
- Divest from all ties to Israel
- Grant amnesty for all student organizers
- Keep cops off campus
View this post on Instagram
Members of the U of U community have set up on President’s Circle at the U’s campus.
Students across the nation have rallied together to protest the US’s support of Israel during the war.
Reaction to the University of Utah encampment in support of Gaza
In response to the encampment, Gov. Spencer Cox posted on X and said “We hold dear our First Amendment rights to protest and peaceably assemble.”
But, he noted, the First Amendment does not protect acts like property damage and camping.
“We will protect protestors and arrest those who violate the law,” Cox’s post ended.
The Utah Department of Public Safety also posted it supported free speech, but warned that it wouldn’t tolerate criminal acts.
