Frey vetoes measure supporting pro-Palestinian protesters who occupied U of M building

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blocked a city council resolution supporting students at the University of Minnesota who are facing academic suspension and fines for occupying a campus building in October to call for divestment from Israel.

The veto comes after the city council voted last week to pass the resolution. It passed 7 to 6 before heading to Frey’s desk.

The mayor said he vetoed the resolution “without hesitation” because he does not support “damaging property and endangering the safety of others.” He called the Oct. 21 occupation of Morrill Hall “neither peaceful nor protected speech.”

“I fully support the right to freedom of speech, but that right does not extend to actions that jeopardize the well-being of others,” wrote Frey in a statement. “The council’s resolution sets a disturbing precedent that must apply to all groups evenly regardless of the cause they are protesting.”

The resolution, authored by Council member Robin Wonsley, supported all 11 arrested protesters and urged the University of Minnesota to drop all academic charges, suspensions and evictions of seven who are students. One student is not facing punishment, according to the U’s Students for a Democratic Society.

It also encouraged dropping the criminal charge against the one protester related to the occupation, who is a recent alum, and asked the university to work with students on their demand for the U to divest from the state of Israel and weapons manufacturers.

U president says occupation caused $67,000 in damages

U of M President Rebecca Cunningham alleges the seven student protesters barricaded the entrances, spray painted and destroyed security cameras, broke windows and damaged property while “forcing entry into locked spaces.”

The estimated damages are over $67,000.

“The protesters violated multiple University policies, caused significant building damage and harm to staff who were present when the building was overrun by protesters,” wrote Cunningham in a letter to Frey.

She also said there were many staff members that were inside of the building during the occupation that were afraid.

“Since Oct. 21, these employees have shared that they feel less safe or uncomfortable in their workspaces. Others have felt compelled to strip their desks of photos of family or friends and personal belongings. These are employees who simply came to work on Oct. 21 to do their jobs and were eventually forced out of the building rather than finish out their workdays,” she said.

Student activist group compares occupation to 1969 protest

According to Students for a Democratic Society, seven students were suspended for up to two and a half years and were charged about $5,500 each in restitution payments for the occupation. At least three of the students were evicted from student housing.

Juliet Murphy, a spokesperson for the student group, said they were expecting Frey to veto the resolution.

“We really want to encourage people to keep showing up, keep calling council members, emailing council members, showing them that the community really, really supports these students,” said Murphy. 

“At the end of the day, this genocide has been going on for over a year now, and we really care about the university taking action, and we will continue to keep protesting to get them to do so.”

In 1969, Black students occupied Morrill Hall for 24 hours as part of the Civil Rights Movement. The occupation spurred the creation of the U’s Department of African-American and African Studies, which Wonsley cited during a Dec. 3 committee meeting.

“Mind you, that student-participated action literally used the same exact tactics that the students who are currently being stringently punished for doing the same efforts in solidarity for Palestine today,” said Wonsley. “And I’m pretty sure decades from now, the University of Minnesota community will look back and honor students who protested for Palestine human rights in 2024.”

Student facing suspension says she did not vandalize building

Ava Schaeffel is a U of M student and was one of the protesters who was arrested. She says she is frustrated at the punishments the University has given out.

She was put on interim suspension immediately after the occupation and then given a 1.5-year suspension that starts in 2025. She also says she has to pay $5,600 in restitution, do 20 hours of community service and write a five-to-10 page essay on “the difference between vandalism and protests.”

“Looking at the response to this occupation compared to past occupations of Morrill Hall, this is the most extreme response we’ve seen,” said Schaeffel. 

Schaeffel says she did not participate in the vandalism of Morrill Hall and is unsure of the reasoning behind the university’s rulings on punishments.

She and others have requested formal hearings in hopes it will result in a different decision.

The mayor, who is Jewish, previously vetoed a resolution in January calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza.

At the time, Frey said he supported a ceasefire, a return of hostages and a two-state solution, but called the language of the resolution “one-sided.”