Cops in riot gear storm Penn student house in month-old vandalism case

Last Friday, 13 police officers gathered early in the morning outside an off-campus residential building in West Philadelphia. It was the home of several University of Pennsylvania students.

Donning full tactical gear, including riot helmets, and armed with assault rifles and handguns, the officers threatened to break down the door with a battering ram and pointed a gun at a neighbor before storm the residence.

The sound of police coming up the stairs woke the students. As they left their room, police pointed guns at them, according to a student present during the raid who spoke to The Intercept on condition of anonymity out of fear for their personal safety.

Police identified themselves as 12 officers from the University of Pennsylvania Police Department and one from the Philadelphia Police Department, the student said, but declined to provide names, badge numbers or a warrant . Police seized another student’s personal device and took him in for questioning. They were released later that morning without any charges or arrests.

“I am quite concerned that the university is using extreme tactics to try to suppress student movements.”

During the interrogation, the student was given a copy of the warrant for his arrest on suspicion of vandalism, according to the first student who spoke to The Intercept. The warrant related to a September incident in which red paint was thrown at the Benjamin Franklin statue on campus.

At the time, Penn Public Safety received a report of an incident and responded. Student activists posted on Instagram that “an autonomous group” was responsible.

“I am quite concerned that the university is using extreme tactics to try to suppress student movements. It’s been pretty consistent all year,” said state Rep. Rick Krajewski, a Democrat who represents West Philadelphia. “A lawful arrest warrant is one thing, but the amount of force used in this warrant against young students is extremely alarming. »

He said: “At the end of the day, 12 police officers arrived with tactical gear and guns against children in a quiet neighborhood. It’s hard for me to believe that this is justified, legal or not.

“Friday’s raid was clearly an institutional, state-sponsored act of terror,” the student present during the raid told The Intercept. “This comes a year after Penn disciplined students, suspending them, sending 300 riot police to arrest and brutalize us repeatedly, throwing their own students and community members in jail. This is just another outrageous sign in their escalation timeline. »

The way police handled the raid was shocking, said Radhika Sainath, senior lawyer at Palestine Legal. “The disproportionate use of force following an incident of alleged vandalism that occurred over a month ago honestly shocks the conscience. »

Penn in the hot seat

Since encampments protesting the war on Gaza increased across the country this spring, Penn has suppressed Palestine solidarity activism with increasing force.

The Ivy League school was in the spotlight last winter after university President Liz Magill bowed to pressure from pro-Israel donors and resigned after testifying before Congress . Following the hearing, Penn Board of Trustees Chairman Scott Bok also resigned, as did Harvard University President Claudine Gay.

A few months later, in the spring, Penn called the Philadelphia police to clean up the Gaza encampment.

Miguel Torres, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Police Department, referred questions to Penn and the Philadelphia District Attorney. University spokesman Ron Ozio did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Penn’s Division of Public Safety confirmed the raid but said it does not comment on open criminal investigations. The release said the warrant was reviewed by the prosecutor’s office, approved by a bail commissioner and executed in accordance with appropriate policies and procedures.

Philadelphia District Attorney spokesman Dustin Slaughter confirmed that the prosecutor approved the search warrant based on information provided by Penn police. Asked about student reports that the warrant cited suspected vandalism, Slaughter said he could not discuss specifics.

“On October 16, 2024, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office reviewed and approved a search warrant for a location in West Philadelphia based on information provided to the DAO Prosecuting Unit as part of “an ongoing investigation by the University of Pennsylvania Police Department and Public Safety Division,” Slaughter said.

He said the prosecutor’s office had no role in executing the warrant and received no request from Penn police to approve the charges.

“If and when that time arrives,” Slaughter said, “we will carefully review the evidence submitted by the appropriate law enforcement authorities and make a fair and just decision.”

Militarized campus

Penn has one of the largest university police forces in the country.

Although it called on Philadelphia police to crack down on the encampments this spring, the university has always prided itself on separating city police from student affairs.

These days, the student at the raid said, the police presence at Penn and West Philadelphia is overwhelming. Friday’s raid is part of a growing militarization of campus and city police that targets both pro-Palestine activism and the city’s black and brown residents.

“The Penn Police and PPD have long been a law enforcement force in West Philly,” the student said. “Police violence in Philadelphia is far too prevalent. You go through something like that and you can’t help but think of the PPD that bombed an entire neighborhood in 1985” – referring to the police attack on radicals in the MOVE commune in West Philadelphia.

Penn has shown clear imbalances in how it responds to activism for Palestine and activism for other causes, the student said. “It is no surprise that Penn Police are trained by Israeli occupying forces, sponsor training trips to Israel, and participate in counterterrorism seminars. “It is also not surprising that Penn is funding this genocide and terrorizing its own students,” they said.

The raid was unprecedented in Penn’s history, said Huda Fakhreddine, associate professor of Arabic literature and Penn Justice Faculty member in Palestine, who organized a Palestinian literature festival at Penn that was the subject of attacks from university donors last September.

“As some of us watch in horror at the destruction of our homelands and the extermination and displacement of our families in Palestine and Lebanon, UPenn is resorting to obscene intimidation tactics to silence anti-genocide speeches, going so far as to unleash an armed police force against the students. in their residence,” she said.

“Not only does the university hinder the ability of students and faculty to teach, learn and exchange ideas,” she added, “it also criminalizes mourning, shamefully suppressing students, accusing them of trespassing on their own campus and threatening them. with arrest as they mourn the hundreds of thousands of lives destroyed by the Israeli genocide in Palestine and now Lebanon.

“One of Penn’s tactics is to isolate students.”

The aim of the raid was to isolate students and deter pro-Palestine activism, the student said.

“One of Penn’s tactics is to isolate students,” they said. “I don’t think they understand anything about the strength and scale of this movement.”

Such reprisals are a sign that leaders are afraid of the growing international movement organizing against the genocide.

“If you are shocked by what is happening to Western students, then think about the campaign of violence and terror that the West has imposed on Palestine for decades,” they said. “They just made it all more visible.”