5 of 11 pro-Palestinian protestors on NMSU campus are students, university says
Update: NMSU officials say only 11 people were arrested. They say the original number of 13 was incorrect because two arrestees were counted twice. Five of the people arrested are current students.
Update: ABC-7 has obtained the mugshots for eleven of the thirteen protestors arrested.
They are identified as Felicity (Moses) Stacey, 21; Gamer (Nathan) Tercero, 19; Michael Garcia, 20; Marissa Prieto, 19; Abegail Salugsugan, 24; Austin Hale, 19; Evalin Garcia, 19; Monique Romero, 22; Jonah Holguin, 23; Trent Scribner, 22; and Gauge (Abigail) Burnett, 26.
Update: New Mexico State University has issued the following statement on the protest:
"Late Thursday afternoon, a group of protesters gathered inside Hadley Hall on the New Mexico State University campus. That building closes for business at 5 p.m. Over the course of an hour, the group was repeatedly asked to leave. Shortly before 6 p.m., the group was told that if they did not leave the premises, they would face arrest. NMSU police detained 13 individuals on a variety of charges including misdemeanor criminal trespass, misdemeanor resisting/obstructing an officer, felony battery on a peace officer and felony criminal damage to property. The building was cleared and will be open for business Friday."
New Mexico State University
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Arrests were made during a pro-Palestinian sit-in protest at New Mexico State University according to KOAT, our news partners in Albuquerque.
Dylan Davis, a student protestor, says a group of students came to Hadley Hall at NMSU to present UTEP President Mónica Torres with a petition asking for the university to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The petition had collected 500 signatures in less than a day.
Upon arriving, however, Dylan says the offices were locked and the president had left though the back door.
"So we decided to go ahead, sit down in the lobby, link arms, and wait for them to hear our demands," said Davis in an interview with KOAT.
Within five minutes, police arrived at Hadley Hall, telling the students they had until 5 p.m. to leave. After 5 p.m. passed, Davis says officers began to block the building, not letting anyone, including a legal observer from the American Civil Liberties Union, enter the building.
Pro-Palestinian organization Las Cruces for Palestine posted videos of the protest on their Instagram, encouraging students to protest outside Hadley Hall. One video from the account shows a police officer slamming a person outside Hadley Hall to the ground. Other videos show students linking arms, singing in protest.
Davis said that 11 people were arrested at the protest, 10 of them students.
"They placated us and our demands and assured us that they were working closely to show their solidarity with us in Palestine and they lied to us" said Davis during the interview with KOAT.
We reached out to UTEP for a statement on the protest, but have not yet heard back.
We will continue to update as we learn more.
