Inside Morrill Hall Monday, protesters from the UMN Students for a Democratic Society barricaded doors and windows in an occupation that left the University of Minnesota on a complete lockdown.

Protesters spray-painted security cameras, barricaded exterior doors and broke windows throughout the building. The occupation lasted several hours.

The protest started in front of Coffman Union at 3 pm, but after some time, protesters began marching through Northrop Mall, toward Morrill Hall. SDS members entered Morrill Hall and escorted staff out as they barricaded themselves in.

As protesters from SDS occupied Morrill Hall, they began to make demands to the University.

“We demand that the University divests from Israel and cuts all ties, including academic ties,” a protestor said. “We also demand a neutrality policy, and to stop attacking free speech on campus.”

The University of Minnesota sent a SAFE-U alert to students at 4:40 pm, warning students and staff of the active conflict.

At that time, protesters managed to disrupt nearly all university operations. Protesters assembled into groups, as some focused their efforts on barricading all possible entrances, while others aimed to clear the building of staff and cause as much disruption to operations as possible.

Protesters moved furniture, emptied rooms, and broke windows and doors. Their actions, while chaotic, were swift and calculated.

These actions were no spur-of-the-moment decisions, according to one protester. The takeover was a deliberate attempt to force the hand of University officials and administrators.

“We are seeking to force admin to act on our demands,” the protestor said. “We are taking this over because we’re gonna shut down the University until they divest from genocide. They cannot be investing in genocide here and bombing schools in Gaza.”

The SDS members’ frustration toward University of Minnesota officials mirrors those felt by many students. Protesters from the group said its actions, while harsh, represent a greater goal of amplifying the voices of student voices that often fall on deaf ears within the University’s administration.

“The admin, they just, they don’t care. During all of their fancy talks and speeches, they talk about how they want to hear from students, and students are the only thing that matters,” said another protestor. “This is why they’re here. This is why they love their job, but with such an important issue, like the issue of genocide, they take the complete opposite approach. They harm our first amendment rights, and they just, like I said, they don’t give a shit.”

As time passed in Morrill Hall, another group of SDS members entered the building to join barricading efforts in the basement area. As protesters worked, members of the University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD), Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office entered the Gopher Way tunnel system.

Police, armed with rubber bullet guns and body armor, broke through crudely constructed barricades set up throughout the tunnel system and basement of Morrill Hall. By about 5:40, an hour after safety alerts had been sent out, police made it into Morrill Hall.

The protesters in Morrill, many of whom were still in the basement, were ordered to the ground as police began to handcuff and apprehend the activists.

Officers from the multiple departments quickly began sweeping through the building, detaining 11 protesters and one journalist, myself, as they cleared hallways and rooms of SDS members. I was one of three reporters from the Minnesota Daily in the building at the time and was detained with members of the protest.

My bag, containing my laptop, reporting notes and school materials, was confiscated during the raid. These items were held until Wednesday afternoon. Police continued clearing the building and processing protesters for two hours, as the three members of the Minnesota Daily and one member of the Minnesota Star Tribune were held in the building until 7:35 pm Monday night.

The lockdown remained until 9:11 pm Monday when campus alerts confirmed police had cleared Morrill Hall and resolved the situation.

The protesters, who were a mix of students, alumni from the University and community members, were brought to Hennepin County Jail to be booked and placed in holding. They were held in the county jail overnight.

By Wednesday evening, all 11 protesters would be released from police custody. Though one protester is facing fourth-degree assault charges, protests outside of Hennepin County Jail and on the University of Minnesota’s campus continued until every arrested protester was released.

This story was originally published on Minnesota Daily on October 24, 2024.