Virginia Tech students and educators are protesting on campus after six students and academics were arrested on Sunday for trespassing.
WDBJ7 met with one of the teachers, who stated that their expectations begin with a chat.
“The experience was really unpleasant, especially getting arrested… I can confirm that I was shackled for seven and a half hours. “And I still have numbness in my left hand,” said Bikrum Gill, a Virginia Tech political science professor.
He expressed disappointment with how things were handled Sunday.
“The university has failed to protect Palestinian students on campus for the last six to seven months as their people and their families are undergoing a brutal genocide in Gaza, a genocide in which US weapons are core,” he said.
Gil claimed the gathering was peaceful until cops arrived, causing havoc.
“You can see everything that’s happening all day, people are praying, people are studying, people are discussing, people are learning together, there are teachings planned; this threat to safety came from the way Virginia Tech decided to clear out the people who are gathered,” Gilbert added.
Their demands remain unchanged: divest, denounce, and acknowledge. Protesters are urging Virginia Tech to divest from firms that support Israeli military actions in Gaza.
Faatina Hameed, a Virginia Tech student, adds that some Palestinian students have been personally affected.
“That’s something that many of my peers have encountered this year. And it’s been extremely disappointing because they’re coping with grief and loss, as well as the type of all-around side effects of trying to make their voices heard and keep the struggle for justice continuing,” Hameed explained. “We’ve been trying to have an open conversation with him about what’s going on in Palestine and how Virginia Tech is complicit in the genocide that’s occurring.”
Gil stated that they will continue to pressure the university to take positions that will put pressure on the government to end the genocide they are witnessing.
“I don’t think this movement is going anywhere. I believe we’ve seen throughout campuses that the more institutions attempt to suppress this, the more it expands. So there is a very clear choice for colleges to engage in a different method of engagement with demonstrators, but it appears that universities are overly invested in the bloodshed in Palestine,” said Gill.
Although some of these students graduate next week, protesters say they will not rest until their demands are realized.