Silke Jasso
Ohio University Police arrested around 70 students at a protest last night, according to a report from WBNS-10 in Ohio. All arrested were charged with criminal trespass, which can carry prison sentences of 30 to 180 days, depending on degree of severity.
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Students had gathered to protest the Trump Administration’s executive order banning emigration from majority-Muslim countries. Some students also demanded the administration make the university a “sanctuary campus,” a first of its kind.
Ohio University officials say protesters gathered at Baker Center on the campus around 5:30 p.m. and created a “safety issue” by gathering there. The group stayed for almost two hours before police warned the crowd to disperse, threatening arrest for those who did not leave.
A statement from the University said:
Disruption of University operations is unlawful. With safety and security at the forefront of all concerned, OUPD and University administration worked together to arrange an alternate space for protestors to gather that would protect students, faculty and staff. In addition, alternate space allocated would not block ingress and egress from Baker Center and would allow for University operations to continue uninterrupted […] [The group was] given ample opportunity and time to relocate, and at 7:58 p.m. OUPD began arresting anyone who refused to leave. Approximately 70 protestors were arrested and charged with criminal trespass.
