LIVE UPDATES: Pro-Palestine Encampment Enters Sixth Day on Quad

UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP) launched an encampment on the quad outside of Swift Hall at 10 a.m. on Monday, following in the steps of pro-Palestinian groups at numerous other universities that have set up encampments in recent weeks.

This article is being updated as the situation develops.

Coverage from days one, two, three, four, and five of the encampment can be read on the Chicago Maroon.

Day 6 Summary

After yesterday's heightened tensions, the sixth day of the encampment saw fewer major confrontations. The University released a statement on yesterday's arrest of an adult male, which they said was "unrelated to the protest activity." The University said an unregistered handgun was found in the individual's car.

Negotiations between encampment leaders and University administrators occurred throughout the day and are expected to restart early Sunday morning.

Around 2 p.m., the launch of an encampment at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago drew attention away from the UChicago encampment. Speakers at a UChicago rally encouraged protesters to bring support to SAIC: "They're at risk, we're not, so we encourage you to travel there."

Speakers today included 35th Ward Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 8th District County Board Commissioner Anthony Quezada, and Reverend Jesse Jackson. The Maroon spoke with U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), who visited the encampment and encouraged protesters to seek peaceful solutions as opposed to "a repeat" of the events at Columbia earlier this week.

May 4, 11:41 p.m.

There is significantly reduced police presence on the quad and immediate vicinity. No officers are consistently on the quad, 57th Street, or 58th Street, with at most one officer intermittently present. 

This is a departure from previous days, when at least two, and often more, officers were visibly present on the quad at most times.

— Kayla Rubenstein, Co-Editor-in-Chief; Nikhil Jaiswal, Co-Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

May 4, 11:16 p.m.

The Maroon observed an unidentified individual on a bicycle grabbing an Israeli flag from a lamppost on the southern side of the quad and leaving with it.

Last night, one of the two remaining banners set up by Maroons for Israel went missing.

— Sabrina Chang and Katherine Weaver, Deputy News Editors

May 4, 11:06 p.m.

Negotiations have ended for the night and are expected to resume in the morning, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.

— Maroon Staff

May 4, 10:27 p.m.

UChicago Faculty Forward, which represents non-tenure-track faculty at UChicago, posted a statement regarding the encampment on X at 9:31 p.m. 

In its statement, titled "Faculty Forward Statement on Freedom of Speech and Right to Protest," Faculty Forward's executive committee said it "unequivocally supports the rights of our members to freedom of speech and to participate in peaceful protest without fear of repression."

Faculty Forward also urged administrators to refrain from deploying police to respond to the encampment. "We urge the University to refrain from any attempt to use its police force or other police agencies to arrest peaceful protestors and their supporters or to otherwise interfere with the encampment," the statement reads.

 "If the University administration were to escalate in this way, it would represent not only a serious infringement on activity that is both constitutionally protected and fundamental to the free exchange of ideas this University publicly espouses but also an irreparable breach of trust between administration and the community it purports to serve."

— Anushree Vashist, Managing Editor

May 4, 10:25 p.m.

At 10:18 p.m., a rally began led by a UCUP member chanting into a megaphone with responses and drumming from the crowd. Most protesters are away from the chanting and engaged in a meeting within the encampment.

— Katherine Weaver, Deputy News Editor

May 4, 10:21 p.m.

The University and UCUP organizers both confirmed that negotiations between the two parties are ongoing.

"Substantive discussions between the University and protesters are ongoing," the University wrote.

— Peter Maheras, News Editor

May 4, 7:35 p.m.

Heavy rain has begun, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Encampment organizers stopped playing music and encampment participants sought cover in tents and under canopies, after which they began chanting. Allied Security officers have left the quad and are taking shelter in the walkway under Levi Hall. 

— Tiffany Li and Sabrina Chang, Deputy News Editors

May 4, 7:16 p.m.

In an update posted on Instagram, UCUP announced that a live music event will take place from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on the quad. They encouraged attendees to bring flashlights, noisemakers, and body shakers. 

"President Pauly clearly wants us off his precious quad. We are not done yet, so we're getting louder," the caption reads. 

The National Weather service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning from now until 7:45 p.m. for the Cook County area.

- Sabrina Chang and Katherine Weaver, Deputy News Editors

May 4, 7:05 p.m.

According to UCUP, the encampment has "horizontalized," meaning that there are now organizations unaffiliated with UCUP working as part of the encampment. Within the encampment, there are groups that each have different tasks and priorities, such as a designated camp defense group.   

UCUP said they are seeking to balance distinct interests among the groups.

- Maroon Staff

May 4, 6:28 p.m.

Four large wooden boards have been brought into the encampment. 

These are in addition to a number of other wooden boards and pallets, along with metal galvanized 16-gauge wire fencing, that were brought to the encampment since yesterday night. 

- Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor; Emma Janssen and Sabrina Chang, Deputy News Editors

May 4, 5 p.m.

Earlier this afternoon, U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), who represents Hyde Park, visited the quad. Jackson is the son of Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., who visited the encampment today and on Tuesday. Speaking with the Maroon, Jackson urged the University to listen to the demonstrators and peacefully resolve the situation.

"We don't want a repeat of what we saw happen in New York City, with the police being called on students doing nonviolent protest," Jackson said. "The students have taken a moral position, and I support them."

— Peter Maheras, News Editor; Emma Janssen and Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editors

May 4, 4:33 p.m.

The protesters and the University are in ongoing negotiations, according to UCUP. It is unclear if or when an agreement will be reached. 

The quad remains calm.

— Sabrina Chang, Deputy News Editor

May 4, 2:39 p.m.

A speaker at the rally spoke about two anniversaries happening on May 4: those of the 1970 Kent State Massacre and the 1886 Haymarket affair. The speaker called them "two of the most significant instances of state-sponsored violence against working people and students."

On May 2, 1970, after days of confrontation between Kent State students and police regarding the Vietnam War, Kent's mayor and Ohio's governor sent in the Ohio National Guard. With more than 3,000 protesters gathered two days later on May 4, rocks were thrown and the guardsmen fired tear gas and later live rounds into the crowd. Four students were killed and nine were wounded.

"Remember that student protest has always been met with disproportionate violence and that students at Kent State like you today were on the right side of history… their memory lives on in every single one of you today," the speaker said. 

On May 4, 1886, an explosive was set off among police officers trying to disperse a labor demonstration in Haymarket Square in Chicago. Ensuing police gunfire killed at least four demonstrators and injured dozens more. Seven of the eight individuals charged with murder in the aftermath of the bombing were sentenced to death—four were hanged in 1887 while Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned the other three in 1893.

"Police have always been the enemy of working people in this country and around the world," the speaker said. 

— Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor; Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editor; Austin Zeglis, Senior News Reporter

May 4, 2:31 p.m. 

The rally ended with chants of "Disclose, divest" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

A speaker asked gathered protesters to "please stay as long as you can" and to enjoy the space, food, and programming of the encampment.

Dhuhr prayer started after the end of the rally.

— Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editor

May 4, 2:20 p.m. 

A member of SJP Chicago, a coalition of various chapters of SJP in the city, spoke at the rally.

They addressed the encampment organizers' refusal of the University's offer for a one-hour meeting between encampment organizers and University President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Katherine Baicker, contingent on a full shutdown of the encampment, in addition to a public forum with Alivisatos and Baicker.

"We don't want these bureaucratic forums, we want divestment!" the speaker said, calling the University's offer "demands made in bad faith." "We will not concede," they said.

"We have nothing left to lose. These colonizers, these administrative members have everything to lose… they want this to end. And we see them crumbling when it comes to negotiations. So we will remain and we will not forget our martyrs," the speaker said. "Let us be loud and let us be clear. We will not stop! We will not rest!" 

— Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editor

May 4, 2:14 p.m. 

The Revolutionary Communist [Party] of America (RCA) has set up a small table on the quad and are handing out copies of the Communist, their paper. Members of the party, known as "Revcoms," have attended every UCUP rally this week.

- Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor

May 4, 2:05 p.m.

Reverend Jesse Jackson returned to the encampment and addressed protesters in a speech. He had previously visited on Tuesday, the second day of the encampment.

— Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editor

May 4, 1:54 p.m.

A protester spoke about the community the encampment has built over the past six days, saying, "We have built a community from all ages and background for one goal: To end a genocide."

He connected the Palestinian cause to "a cause for all people who are oppressed." Speaking to Black Americans, he said "for every George Floyd in America there is a George Floyd in the West Bank." 

He also spoke about his Irish, Puerto Ricans, and Latino "brothers and sisters," telling them "we are stronger than our oppressors."

Lastly, he called on his "Jewish brothers and sisters, especially those with us right now… you are one of my biggest inspirations." He spoke about a future in which "you will watch my kids when I go to my Friday prayers, and when you go to your Shabbat services, I will watch yours."

"Thank you for ensuring my identity isn't erased, and thank you for standing up for my right of existence," he said.

— Maroon Staff

May 4, 1:50 p.m.

An encampment organizer named Moon spoke over the loudspeaker, encouraging protesters with the means to travel to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) to provide support to the protesters there. "They're at risk, we're not, so we encourage you to travel there," the speaker said.

"We are getting reports that SWAT has been deployed to SAIC," said another speaker, who also mentioned there were officers with rubber bullets. "Please be aware of the safety situation over there. The situation is escalating quickly."

— Maroon Staff

May 4, 1:39 p.m.

Anthony Quezada, the County Board Commissioner of the 8th district, demanded a ceasefire and for the University administration to "sit down with students in good faith and actually listen and understand the demands that are being made." He called the conflict in Gaza "one of the worst atrocities that this generation and this century has seen" and said the University "must divest from its investment in the war machine, and it must invest in real reparations."

"We are here gathered for peace and humanity," he said. "I'm going to be here every day with you as you make these demands. Know that you are part of something historic."

— Maroon Staff

May 4, 1:33 p.m.

Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, who represents the 35th ward of Chicago, has arrived on the quad and is speaking at the rally to roughly 200 gathered protesters. 

He condemned the University for making statements about Ukraine and about former president Trump's Muslim ban, while staying silent on Palestine and the conflict in Gaza.

"It is shameful, it is unjust, and it is ridiculous that universities like UChicago support those crimes," Ramirez-Rosa said. "All of us must do every single thing we can to save the lives of the people of Gaza… and to bring an end to the illegal Israeli apartheid that has been going on for way too long."

"Long live the students, long live Gaza, long live Palestine. Israeli apartheid will end in our lifetimes, and Palestine will be free," Ramirez-Rosa concluded.

— Maroon Staff

May 1:28 p.m.

Around 1:20 p.m., a man started shouting "Who started the war" and "terrorists" at protesters. He has since left.

— Maroon Staff

May 4, 1:18 p.m.

The rally has begun. Around 200 protesters have gathered on the quad as organizers lead chants while drumming.

— Elena Eisenstadt, News Reporter; Nikhil Jaiswal, Co-Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

May 4, 1:12 p.m.

Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UChicago member Callie Maidhof, the associate director of the Global Studies Program, has told the Maroon that negotiations between the encampment participants and University administration are currently ongoing. However, the parties have reached some early sticking points, according to Maidhof.

— Emma Janssen and Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editors

May 4, 11:56 a.m.

The University released a statement to the Maroon about the individual who was arrested by the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) at approximately 6 p.m. on Friday.

"UCPD made an arrest of an individual after UCPD officers located an unauthorized handgun in the individual's car," the statement read. "The arrest and the individual were unrelated to the protest activity."

On Instagram on Friday, UCUP released a statement about the arrest.

"Since the start of the encampment on Monday 4/29, the UChicago Police Department has consistently singled out Black people in and around the encampment for arrest and harassment," the statement read. "We recognize that heightened UCPD presence deployed to the Popular University for Gaza has put Black protestors, especially Black neighbors unaffiliated with the University, at increased risk for violence."

— Emma Janssen, Deputy News Editor

May 4, 10:20 a.m.

UCUP posted its daily schedule on Instagram. It includes a rally at 1 p.m., teach-ins at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., and a concert at 10 p.m.  

The quad remains calm, as it has been all morning. 

— Austin Zeglis, Senior News Reporter

May 4, 10 a.m.

This marks 120 hours of the encampment since it was lodged at 10 a.m. on Monday.

— Kayla Rubenstein, Co-Editor-in-Chief

May 4, 8:24 a.m.

Protesters started emerging from tents as the UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP) encampment entered its sixth day. The barriers placed around most of the encampment on Friday night remain in place.

On Thursday, UCPD officers told encampment organizers that similar barriers placed around the encampment on Wednesday night must be removed. UCUP later removed the barriers.

In a statement to the Maroon on Friday night, UCUP said the barriers were to "ensure protestors' safety from Zionist aggressors."

— Peter Maheras, News Editor