Portland State University, citing safety concerns, asks pro-Palestinian protest to move from campus

After a pro-Palestinian protest sprouted at Portland State University last week — joining scores of universities across the country — school officials on Monday asked protesters to leave.

A few dozen people had barricaded the front steps of Portland State University’s Branford Price Millar Library, stretching orange construction fencing, tarps, signs, wires and empty gallon water cans to block the entrance.

The scene was relatively quiet around midday, though the crowd had grown to a few hundred people by the afternoon. Protesters at times welcomed donations of cases of water, yet also heard the occasional shout from passers-by who called the demonstration misguided.

Signs and graffiti on windows and the library itself sent messages like “Free Gaza!” and admonished school administrators. Similar protests across the country have called on universities and other government institutions to remove any financial ties to Israel over the ongoing war in Gaza.

A school spokesperson said Portland State didn’t take immediate action “to avoid escalating the situation,” but now wants the demonstration to pack up.

“Since the weekend, the encampment has grown and has resulted in greater property damage and intimidation,” wrote school spokesperson Katy Swordfisk. “Given growing health and safety risk to our campus community and interference with university operations, PSU is asking the protesters to vacate the library portico.”

In an Instagram post, the protesters wrote they are seeking demands from the university administration.

The demands include the university issuing a public condemnation of Israel and the aerospace company Boeing, whose weapons divisions have sold and armed the Israel Defense Forces. The protests also demand a ceasefire and better protection for pro-Palestinian students.

Willie Halliburton, chief of campus police, arrived at one point Monday to ask protesters to take down the barricades. But protesters, who declined to give their name to OPB, turned him away.

“This is no longer acceptable,” Halliburton told a protester, noting the barricade raises safety concerns.

“I’m asking you, can you please take this down?” Halliburton noted in the conversation that he supported their free speech rights.

“Tolerating us is not supporting us,” a protester said in reply. The protester said they were willing to cooperate but wanted their demands met.

“Nobody will be harmed in this movement we’re doing,” the protester said. “We will leave if you meet our demands, that’s it.”

The demonstration comes days after Portland State University officials agreed to put their relationship with Boeing on pause. School officials told OPB that the school makes no investment in Boeing, but has accepted philanthropic gifts from the company, such as a $150,000 gift to name a classroom and about $28,000 a year for scholarships.

Students at nearby Lewis & Clark College also staged protests, school officials told OPB. Spokesperson Lois Leveen said students are peacefully protesting and “exercising their right to protest.” Social media indicated that similar demonstrations popped up at the University of Oregon campus in Eugene and at Reed College in Portland.

The Oregon demonstrations join others throughout the nation.

Students at the University of Washington, which has a significantly tighter relationship with Boeing, erected tents at the university’s quad and began public demands the university end any financial ties with Israel, the Seattle Times reported.

Perhaps the most prominent demonstration has been at Columbia University in New York City. New York police removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment there and arrested more than 100 demonstrators earlier this month, according to the Associated Press.