(NewsNation) — Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein was arrested Saturday at Washington University in St. Louis while supporting a pro-Palestinian protest at Washington University.
More than 100 people — including 23 students and four university employees — were arrested at the protest calling for the university to divest from Boeing and boycott Israeli academic institutions, in addition to other demands.
Stein’s campaign manager, Jason Call and deputy campaign manager Kelly Merrill-Cayer, were also arrested according to Stein’s X account.
Stein, 73, spent six hours in police custody and is facing charges of assault, KSDK reported.
Stein had attempted to de-escalate the situation between protestors and police but the police were not responsive and began arrests shortly afterward, according to Stein’s X account.
Stein, who is Jewish, in a video said, “we’re going to stand here in line with the students who are standing up for democracy, standing up for human rights, standing up to end genocide.”
Protests are roiling college campuses nationwide as administrators with graduation ceremonies next month face demands that schools cut financial ties to Israel against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war.
Photos show uniformed police attempting to remove masked protesters as others, also wearing masks, link arms to thwart the efforts.
In a statement, the university said the people were arrested on suspicion of trespassing. Megan Green, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, said in a social media post that she was present and the protest remained calm “until the police came in like an ambush.”
The university’s statement defended the action and said protesters “did not have good intentions on our campus and that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous.”
Some arrested also face charges of resisting arrest and assault, including injuries to three police officers, the statement said. Those injuries include a severe concussion, a broken finger and a groin injury.
The Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the arrests as “heavy-handed.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.