UGA student protestors say they have been suspended after arrests

ATLANTA — Student protestors at UGA tell Channel 2 Action News they have been suspended after they were arrested Monday morning.

The protests were the latest in a nationwide trend sweeping college campuses.

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The protests on the university’s campus that started last week. Since then, protesters have been on Emory’s campus each day.

Protests in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war broke out on the quad at Emory University on Thursday. During the first day of protests, Emory police say 28 people were arrested, including at least two faculty members.

Video does show campus personnel warning the protestors that they were violating school policy and that they needed to disperse or would be arrested.

“They grabbed every single one of us and arrested us,” Zeena Mohamed said.

Mohamed was one of the students arrested and suspended.

“A lot of us saw that as one small thing as incomparable to what we were protesting to begin with,” Mohamed said.

According to documentation provided by the students, they were given less than 20 minutes to respond to their suspension before it went into effect.

In addition, protestors say the organization Students for Justice in Palestine at UGA has been suspended as well.

On Sunday, police say they gave six people criminal trespass warnings. They believe they are the people responsible for vandalizing the campus. None of them are affiliated with Emory.

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Police are now announcing the arrest of Derek Zika from Statesville, North Carolina. Zika was arrested on the Emory Quad on Sunday afternoon with knives and a pepper spray canister.

Emory University is implementing safety measures ahead of graduation in a press release where it addressed violence on the campus:

• We have in place or are taking the following measures to further enhance the safety of our community:
• We have added more lighting and additional cameras covering key campus locations. These cameras are monitored 24/7 by the Emory Police Department.
• We have increased officer patrols, the visibility of uniformed officers on campus, and other security measures. These efforts are especially focused on the Quad and are extended to the broader campus.
• We have limited building entry to individuals with card access.
• We are working with individual students who have needs related to exams and other academic accommodations.

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