The Minneapolis City Council voted 7-5 Tuesday on a resolution urging the University, Hennepin County and city attorneys not to pursue charges against those arrested during the Oct. 21 student protest.
Pro-Palestine protesters from the University’s Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter occupied Morrill Hall on Oct. 21, leading to the University of Minnesota Police Department officers arresting 11 students as well as briefly detaining a Minnesota Daily reporter.
Students and alumni involved in the protest were evicted from university housing and are currently being charged restitution payments of $5,000 each, Council Member Robin Wonsley (Ward 2) said during the meeting. One alumnus was also charged with a felony.
“The University of Minnesota recently celebrated a student alumni from the 1970s that pushed the University to create the Department of African American Studies,” Wonsley said in the meeting. “And mind you, that student participated in action that literally used the same exact tactics that the students who are currently being stringently punished for doing the same efforts in solidarity for Palestine.”
Wonsley said it is crucial the city, county and University do not criminalize nonviolent student protests.
“I don’t want to see the City Council be complicit in criminalization of students engaging in nonviolent anti-war protests,” Wonsley said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement released Tuesday that the city council set a bad precedent with the resolution and that he would veto it.
“The council’s resolution risks setting a disturbing precedent that must apply to all groups evenly regardless of the cause they are protesting,” Frey said in the statement. “It is concerning to me that any council member could view this as acceptable and I will be vetoing the resolution without hesitation.”
The council members who voted yes:
- Elliott Payne (Ward 1)
- Robin Wonsley (Ward 2)
- Jeremiah Ellison (Ward 5)
- Jamal Osman (Ward 6)
- Jason Chavez (Ward 9)
- Aisha Chughtai (Ward 10)
- Aurin Chowdhury (Ward 12)
The council members who voted no:
- Michael Rainville (Ward 3)
- LaTrisha Vetaw (Ward 4)
- Katie Cashman (Ward 7)
- Emily Koski (Ward 11)
- Linea Palmisano (Ward 13)
Council Member Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8) was not present at the meeting and did not vote.