[UPDATE 10:50 p.m.: Law Enforcement Leaving Campus] Pro Palestinian Protesters Occupy Siemens Hall at Cal Poly

Law enforcement gathered at the door to Siemens Hall. [Screengrab from live video at the scene by Ryan Hutson]

Our reporter, Ryan Hutson is at the scene and posting live video on our Facebook page.

She tells us that there are around a dozen tents pitched inside the building and even more sleeping bags indicating that the students are planning on spending the night.

Hutson spoke to a University Police officer and asked if there were plans to make any arrests. He responded that that depended on the students. Meanwhile, we’ve heard a call over the scanner for a transport van (which is usually employed to bring multiple arrestees from the site of the arrest to the jail) to be brought to Cal Poly Humboldt.

Most of the protesters are on the second floor of Siemens Hall. However, there is a second group outside. The two groups are chanting with each other and calling for divestment.

This is part of a swelling movement at college campuses across the nation in protest of Israel’s response to the October 7 killing of about 1200 citizens and kidnapping of 250 more. AP News reports, “The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, at least two-thirds of them children and women.”

Several prestigious universities have faced significant student protests.

The Wall Street Journal reports that at Columbia, after days of protest demanding divestment from corporations linked to Israel, the university president announced a temporary shift to online classes to reduce tensions and plan further steps. Meanwhile, at Yale, about 50 students were arrested after a week-long protest, when they refused to leave a campus plaza to discuss issues with university trustees.

The protests started today at Cal Poly Humboldt could lead to similar arrests. The sit-in at Siemens Hall, with its tents and sleeping bags and the students determined to influence university policies on international issues could echo the unrest on campuses during the 1960’s. Or, it could dissolve. Below is a second live video from the scene.

This incident, like similar disruptions at Columbia and Yale, underscores the increasing pressure on university administrations to navigate the complex interplay of campus policies and student activism.

Below is a gallery of images taken by Ryan Hutson of the scene at Cal Poly.

UPDATE 7:30 p.m.: Law enforcement and students are fighting at the doorway. The clashes have gotten bloody. At least two students are bleeding. More law enforcement is being requested.

UPDATE 7:40 p.m.: According to one protester inside the building speaking to our live coverage, All we’re asking is for law enforcement to leave, we don’t want a violent interaction, praying, collecting ourselves, but the police came in swinging, student has large egg sized bump with slight bruising on their head.

On our live feed, we can see law enforcement is now clashing with protesters outside Siemens Hall. Some of the outside protesters are being handcuffed.

UPDATE 7:45 p.m.: Over the scanner, law enforcement estimated for dispatch that there are approximately 150 protesters now and multiple skirmishes. One officer has pulled a protester from the back of a truck but we’re not sure why the truck is on campus that is part of law enforcement response. This is a hectic and volatile scene.

UPDATE 7:50 p.m.: Over the scanner, one officer told dispatch that things may be simmering down but there are 20 different protesters approaching the area. He added, “”It looks like the officers are outnumbered if it gets violent.”  The dispatcher said that a ground unit said they were running out of equipment.

UPDATE 8:44 p.m.: Live video resumed here:

UPDATE 9:10 p.m.: Cal Poly is closing the campus until later this week. According to an alert sent out, “Campus is closed through Wed. as protests continue. Situation volatile, avoid the area.”

UPDATE 9:25 p.m.: The crowd outside continues to grow. As this report goes out, protesters are chanting, “APD go home. We are stronger.” And “Free free Palestine,” as well as “Justice for Josiah,” Etc. There are multiple law enforcement agencies on site though–Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department, University Police, and California Highway Patrols.

A CHP helicopter has been circling overhead but is headed back to Redding.

Flightradar shows the path of the CHP helicopter over the campus.

There are unconfirmed reports of vandalism elsewhere on or near campus. And reports that more protesters are arriving. Reports over the scanner state that riot police have been requested from Shasta County.

UPDATE 9:40 p.m.: Cal Poly Humboldt released the following statement:

UPDATE 10:30 p.m.: Protests continue unabated at Cal Poly even as it grows late. Below are two videos from our reporter Mark McKenna at the scene. One shows a protest leader calling for no violence towards the police. The other shows a protest leader wearing a traditional Middle Eastern checkered scarf, a keffiyeh.

Video of protester calling for non violence by Mark McKenna.

Video of protester wearing a keffiyeh leading chants by Mark McKenna.

 Video of protesters outside Siemens Hall on the Cal Poly Campus by Mark McKenna

UPDATE 10:45 p.m.: The Instagram account @HumboldtforPalestine posted,

[That the protesters’] demands as we understand them are as follows:
1. For CPH to disclose all holdings and collaborations with the zionist entity.
2. Academic Boycott, cut all ties with israeli universities.
3. Divest from all ties to the zionist entity including companies complicit in the occupation of Palestine.
4. To drop all charges and attacks on student organizers.
5. An immediate ceasefire and end to the occupation of Palestine. Students are requesting support as follows: Bodies to join them in the occupation of Siemens hall.

Students, faculty, and community members to immediately call the university and UPD and pressure them to deescalate, allow the students to protest peacefully. You can contact UPD at 707-826-5555 and demand these students are allowed to express their first amendment rights!

One commenter to the post claiming to be a faculty member said,

I just called to demand de-escalation and the right to peaceful protest and express first amendment rights. Someone answered and took my name and my message. But then I had my husband call (we’re both CPH faculty) and they yelled at him and hung up. My friend who is there says they’re hitting students, pepper spraying, backing a truck into them, arresting students, and helicopters overhead! WTF

UPDATE 10:50 p.m.: All law enforcement have left from in front of the building and appear to be leaving the campus. Scanner traffic appears to confirm that law enforcement has left the scene. One officer said that law enforcement is being “disbanded.” Students are currently pouring in and out of the occupied building.

The dispatcher is contacting medical and fire crews stationed nearby in case they are needed and letting them know that officers are leaving and that they can clear the scene.

UPDATE: From Campus to Courthouse: Pro-Palestinian Protesters Demand Release of Activists After Clashes at Cal Poly Humboldt