As Pro-Palestinian student protests intensify on college campuses across the nation, about 40 Florida State University students set up an encampment on Landis Green early Thursday morning.
But the Occupy Landis movement was short-lived.
Campus police made the students — members of Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society — take down a handful of tents that were set up for a mere five minutes on the grassy space predawn due to FSU regulation 2.007, which prohibits camping on university lands, according to a university spokesperson.
“As an educational institution, Florida State University welcomes free inquiry, diverse thought and rigorous debate,” FSU spokesperson Amy Farnum-Patronis said. “However, these expressions must comply with university regulation and the law.”
FSU protest comes amid a wave of campus demonstrations
A wave of pro-Palestinian encampments and protests have recently spread on college campuses around the country including Yale University, the University of California in Berkeley, Emerson College, the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University in New York City — where over 100 people have been arrested and protesters face a deadline to end the encampment.
Students at the University of Florida also stood ground on an eight-hour occupation of the university’s Plaza of the Americas Wednesday.
“These college and university administrations are treating protesting as if it is a crime,” said Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society Vice President Tavyon Dorsey, an FSU student. “We’re seeing increased police and national guard presence in places like Columbia and UT-Austin, but in the face of that, they keep fighting and they’re not leaving. We’re not going to leave either.”
Despite the encampment setback, the FSU students continued to rally in solidarity with Gaza as the latest war between Israel and Hamas continues six months after a Hamas attack that left hundreds dead.
During the protest, student speakers also expressed how FSU has not acknowledged Arab-American Heritage Month this April or shared any statement to show support to Arab and Muslim students of the university.
Besides the Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society — which is not affiliated with FSU as a student group — other local organizations at the protest were the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Tallahassee Community Action Committee and the Tallahassee Dissenters, an anti-imperialist youth-led group.
FSU law enforcement stayed around to monitor the gathering.
“I have never in my life been seen as a Palestinian in the way that you all have allowed me to be seen,” FSU student Jayci Kapri, a member of the Tallahassee Dissenters, said as she expressed her gratitude toward the group for their pro-Palestinian support.
Lawn mowing, sprinklers interrupt protesters’ plans
Even as the running engines of lawn mowers on Landis Green drowned out the protesters’ chanting voices and water sprinklers unexpectedly turned on with full force, dampening protest signs, the students continued to rally. They accused the university of purposely putting the maintenance tasks in place to discourage their efforts.
A university spokesperson said “work on our grounds happens throughout the day.”
With the university’s Strozier Library right across from Landis Green, a frustrated FSU student came out of the building at around 10 a.m. and asked the students to move as their loud chants and speeches could be heard indoors during a time when many students are studying for finals this semester.
But the student protesters kept going.
“We’re building a movement that started with thousands of people protesting and has now escalated to encampments at multiple universities,” said FSU alumna Delilah Pierre, president of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee. “We’re fighting for basic humanity and for the oppressed people of the world.”
‘Gotta make sure it’s safe for everybody’: Barricades keep protesters and counter-protesters apart
By 4:30 p.m. about 20 pro-Israel counter protesters were also on the green as about a half dozen police officers monitored the situation.
As the protest grew louder with demonstrators yelling and chanting at each other, police put down barricades on either side of the sidewalk to keep the two sets of protesters apart.
“Gotta make sure it’s safe for everybody,” an FSU Police officer said.
The Pro-Palestinian student protesters say they will be staying on campus for “as long as we can.”
Earlier in the day, the students provided participants with coffee and snacks and spread out their deflated tents across the area despite being restricted from setting them up.
“FSU has had a longstanding prohibition of camping on campus, for health and safety reasons, and any encampments installed on the campus will be removed,” FSU Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel Carolyn Egan said in a prepared statement.
“With important rights come substantial responsibilities, and it is imperative that members of our campus community understand free speech as well as its limits and the consequences for conduct that exceeds these boundaries.”
FSView editor Benjamin Taubman contributed to this story. Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.