Pro-Palestine protesters arrested after sit-in on New Mexico State University campus

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Members of a group of Pro-Palestine protesters were arrested on Thursday following a sit-in on the New Mexico State University campus.

An Instagram account, ‘Las Cruces For Palestine,’ started live streaming around 4:30 p.m. with approximately 20 protesters inside the lobby at Hadley Hall, where administration offices are located.

On its Instagram page, Las Cruces for Palestine describes itself as a locally-based group that is, “advocating for the liberation and realization of fundamental rights for the Palestinian people.”

Protesters were seen singing and chanting with four or five New Mexico State University Police officers in the lobby as well.

Around 5:50 p.m., an officer can be heard telling protesters if they do not leave, they would be arrested at 6:05 p.m., for trespassing. The livestream showed officers taking several protesters into custody.

A New Mexico State University spokesperson could not confirm how many protesters were taken into custody. NMSU is expected to put out a statement from the office of NMSU Interim Chancellor Mónica Torres on Thursday evening.

As of 8:30 p.m., jail records show at least eight people booked into the  Doña Ana County Detention Center who were arrested by NMSU Police at Hadley Hall and charged with either misdemeanor criminal trespassing or resisting or obstructing. There was no bail listed with the expectation that they would be released.

In an earlier Instagram post, Las Cruces For Palestine posted a letter sent to the NMSU Board of Regents and administration that included a list of demands. It also called for the university to issue a statement calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire from all fighting parties on behalf of the institution in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The list of demands also included disclosing all of its financial and academic investments and to terminate study abroad agreements with universities in Israel.