Two students arrested during Palestine protest at Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Two Ohio State University students were arrested during a pro-Palestine protest on campus Tuesday afternoon.

Nearly seven months into the Israel-Hamas war, students gathered on Ohio State's medical campus to call for the university to disclose its investments in Israeli companies and assets. Videos posted to social media showed a peaceful group of students on the steps of Meiling Hall chanting "Free Palestine."

University spokesperson Ben Johnson said in a statement that the students were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing after ignoring multiple warnings and after the protest became "disruptive to the students, faculty and staff in Meiling Hall."

"Well established university policy prohibits disrupting the university’s mission, administrative functions and campus-life activities," Johnson said. "This includes demonstrations that disrupt classroom and administrative buildings."

Ohio State is well-accustomed to on-campus protests -- including loud ones -- Johnson told reporters Wednesday afternoon. He said there were about 50 students protesting Tuesday, and the protests continued elsewhere after the two students were arrested.

Johnson said the fact that the protest happened outside an academic buildings, where students and faculty were preparing for exams, factored into the university's determination that the protesters were disruptive. There were no exams or classes scheduled for Tuesday and Johnson said he did not believe an exam was occurring at the time.

"What is disruptive in one building may not be disruptive in another building," Johnson said.

The students are 20 and 21 years old, according to court documents. Criminal trespassing is a fourth-degree misdemeanor. Johnson said the students will be referred to Student Conduct for academic sanctions.

Students and protesters at multiple universities across the U.S. have been arrested during pro-Palestine protests on their campuses. Nearly 50 students at Yale University and more than 130 protesters at New York University were arrested Monday. Last week, more than 100 protesters were arrested at a pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University, according to the Associated Press.

Since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in about 1,200 Israelis killed and more than 200 taken hostage, more than 34,000 Palestinians have died, according to the Associated Press. Israel says about 100 hostages remain in Hamas custody. Many students, including at Ohio State, are demanding their universities divest from Israeli companies or disclose their investments as Israel's war in Gaza continues.

"We want immediate divestment from Israeli companies, from international companies on the [boycott, divestment and sanction] list and from fossil fuels, full stop," said Cat Adams, an Ohio State student and member of Ohio Youth for Climate Justice. "It is past time for the university to take a stand for justice and invest in the people that makes this university what it is."

Ohio Youth for Climate Justice has called for greater investment transparency from Ohio State for years, staging multiple protests on campus demanding the university divest from fossil fuel companies. Ohio State has previously declined to disclose specific investment funds, saying it does not invest in individual stocks but rather outsources to external capital managers.

The arrests come two weeks after Ohio State President Ted Carter, in his State of the University Address, vowed to protect free speech except when it veers into violence or harassment. Johnson said the university remains committed to preserving freedom of speech but will take action when university space rules are violated.

Johnson said he hoped the arrests would neither discourage students from protesting nor spark more disruptive protests. He added that the university wants "an open and continuous dialogue" among administrators, students, faculty and staff.