St. Louis police should stand down at a pro-Palestinian protest scheduled for St. Louis University’s campus on Wednesday evening, Board of Aldermen President Megan Green and Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier said Tuesday.
“I think our expectation should be that tomorrow’s protest at St. Louis University take the same form as Occupy SLU back in 2014 — where there is not a police presence and instead the university chooses to engage in productive dialogue with students,” Green said.
Sonnier agreed with Green at a press conference, where local activists decried Washington University’s response to a weekend protest on campus.
Sonnier, who helped organize the Occupy SLU movement on the private university’s campus after Michael Brown’s killing, said she wants Wednesday night’s protest to get a similar response.
“At that moment, St. Louis University modeled what it looked like to create an environment of dialogue, what it looked like to listen to its students and faculty and to take a proactive approach and an open ear to think critically of its role in its community and broader efforts,” Sonnier said.
SLU officials could not immediately be reached for comment about their plans for the protest.
Since the protest will be on private property, city police officers only plan to enter the area if SLU requests it, said Conner Kerrigan, a spokesman for Mayor Tishaura Jones.
“The department is aware of a planned protest that is set to occur on St. Louis University’s campus on Wednesday evening,” Police Chief Robert Tracy said in a statement. “We have been in contact with the school’s administration, and will be available to assist in ensuring the safety and security of all parties involved.”
Occupy SLU lasted six days, including teach-ins and community conversations following the killings of Brown and VonDeritt Myers Jr. by police officers, according to the university’s website. It resulted in the Clock Tower Accords, a 13-point agreement that commits the university to strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion.
On Saturday at Wash U, police arrested more than 100 protesters — 23 of them students. All will face trespassing charges, and some will face resisting arrest and assault charges too, Chancellor Andrew Martin said.
However, campus police are still investigating and have not filed charges with the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office yet, according to a university spokeswoman.
The protesters want Wash U to cut ties with Boeing because the company holds military contracts with Israel. They also advocate for a cease-fire in the ongoing war in Gaza.
Some Jewish students said the protesters made them fear for their safety.
Green, also an adjunct professor at Wash U, and Angela Miller, a professor of art history and archaeology, identified themselves as the two faculty members at Saturday’s protest who were not arrested. Both are suspended, though, as are four other faculty members who were arrested.
The suspension has meant different outcomes for each academic department, Green said, adding she’s finishing out her class teaching online while others have been completely barred.
“I think all of us are a little unsure about exactly what we're allowed to do,” Miller said.
Students arrested at the protest have also been temporarily suspended and barred from campus, the activists said. Exactly what happens next for the faculty and students entering finals week or getting ready to graduate is unclear.
“It’s a head scratcher,” said Caleb Hughes, a 2023 Wash U graduate who’s involved with the protests.
The St. Louis University protest is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
