Indiana University Uses Police Violence Against Student Protesters
A Line Was Crossed and It Was Wrong
Take a look at this photo, which was circulated by Andrew Miller on Twitter/X. If you look at the top of the tower, you will see a police sniper with a rifle pointed down. What was the target? A pro-Palestinian protest encampment, run by students and faculty. This happened last Thursday afternoon, while classes were concluding for the semester.
The night before, the university administration convened an “Ad Hoc” committee that changed the rules about when and how students and faculty could occupy the field known as Dunn Meadow. When told to leave and dismantle their tents, students engaged in non-violent resistance by linking arms. The police used their batons. This photo from The Bloomingtonian, I believe, depicts one of sociology’s students, being smacked in the face with a baton.
This is another photo from The Bloomingtonian, which has many more photos of police with shields, wooden batons, automatic weapons, and armored vehicles. If you click on their reports, you will see many more images of military grade weapons used to control and arrest student and faculty protesters.
The issue isn’t whether you think the students or faculty were on the right side of the Israel-Gaza war, or if they broke a rule about where you can set up a tent on campus. It’s about how we treat students. Good leaders will de-escalate and resolve issues in ways that don’t put people in physical danger. Bad leaders will rely on displays of force that result in bruises, concussions, and trauma.
What can be done? Since the arrests last Thursday, and more on Saturday, the administration and the Board of Trustees seem to be digging their heels. They admit no error and their public statements indicate that they see all of this as justified. Gladly, other leaders have denounced these actions and the City of Bloomington has distanced itself. Still, it’s important to keep talking about this. I am asking readers to circulate the coverage from The Bloomingtonian, the Indiana Daily Student, and other sources so that people know that the IU administration has crossed the line. If you are in Indiana, please call your elected representative and tell you think this was wrong.
Bottom line: A good leader doesn’t point a gun at you. The leadership choose the wrong way.
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Thank you for posting on this