Thirteen anti-Israel protesters who stormed and vandalized the Stanford University president’s office on Wednesday were charged with felony burglary.
The group stormed President Richard Saller's office around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, breaking windows, spray-painting walls, and causing "extensive damage" to property, according to a university statement. The group occupied the building for more than two hours and injured a police officer in the process before they were ultimately arrested. Several protesters were released on bail after being held for 15 hours, according to the Stanford Daily, which reported that bail was set at $20,000.
Pictures of the aftermath of the protesters' demonstration show a veterans’ memorial spray-painted with the phrase "F—K AMERIKKKA." Videos released by the protesters appear to show vandalized walls with "No Pigs" spray-painted on the entrance of the administrative building. Other pictures show a small American flag on a desk splattered with fake blood and a sign accusing the university of occupying stolen land and committing genocide.
The protesters released a statement after barricading themselves in the president's office, calling for Stanford to "meet our demands and take action to address their role in enabling and profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza." The group called for full amnesty for all anti-Israel protesters at the university, asking the administration to "drop all disciplinary and criminal charges and proceedings" brought against protesters.
"All arrested students will be immediately suspended and in case any of them are seniors, they will not be allowed to graduate," a university spokesman said.
Two of the arrested individuals work for the Stanford Daily, according to the outlet, which said one was covering the protest as a reporter while the other participated in the protest in her personal capacity.
The arrests of the protesters come after colleges across the country have seen arrests when on-campus protests turned violent and anti-Semitic. Twenty-two protesters were charged with felony burglary after occupying a building at the City College of New York campus. More than 40 protesters at Columbia University were charged with misdemeanors following the invasion of Hamilton Hall. Protesters at Columbia also held a sign calling for Hamas’s military wing to kill a group of Jewish students. In May, Jewish students at Northwestern University spoke with congressional lawmakers about their harrowing experience on campus, including being told Jews should "go back to Germany and get gassed" by a member of an anti-Israel encampment.