6 Penn Students Arrested After Attempt to Occupy Building
PHILADELPHIA (NEWSnet/AP) — Six University of Pennsylvania students were among 19 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during an attempt to occupy Fisher-Bennett Hall, campus police said Saturday.
Members of Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine announced the demonstration Friday, urging supporters to bring “flags, pots, pans, noise-makers, megaphones” and other items, University of Pennsylvania Division of Public Safety said.
University and city police escorted the protesters out of the building and secured it. Officers recovered lock-picking tools and homemade metal shields fashioned from oil drums.
Exit doors had been secured with zip ties and barbed wire and barricaded with metal chairs and desks. Windows were covered by newspaper and cardboard, and bike racks and metal chairs blocked entrances, police said.
Seven of the students remained in custody Saturday, awaiting felony charges. One person had assaulted an officer, campus police said.
A dozen were issued citations for failing to disperse and follow police commands. They have been released.
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