COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio State University police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol arrested about three dozen people Thursday night for staging a pro-Palestine encampment on campus – carrying out what is likely the highest number of protest-related arrests there since the Vietnam War.

After hours of peaceful protest on the South Oval behind the Ohio Union, dozens of officers clad in riot gear descended on the crowd, handcuffing protesters and carrying them to Franklin County sheriff’s buses parked nearby. Several protesters were arrested earlier in the day for pitching tents on campus, but police watched for hours – occasionally issuing threats of arrest – when hundreds of protesters returned in the evening.

  • @WhyDoYouPersist@lemmy.world
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    982 months ago

    […] carrying out what is likely the highest number of protest-related arrests there since the Vietnam War.

    That’s pretty telling of the state of things.

    • @givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      -502 months ago

      If you listen to Biden supporters, everything’s fine and anyone who says different lives in Russia…

      What’s really disappointing is seeing Dems go down the same path republicans just ran down.

      • @WhyDoYouPersist@lemmy.world
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        392 months ago

        I actually don’t personally know any Biden supporters to verify that statement. I do, however, know many people who will vote for a second term of this second-quartile-ranked president rather than the bottom quartile anaerobic bacteria that we had before. Those people are very painfully aware that not much is “fine” and the US–and the rest of the worldwide governments–have a long way to go.

        Most rational people realize that we don’t need a middling, above-average option as president, we need literal superheros as politicians in all seats of all branches of government. That will never happen. However, I’m one of like a thousand who vote in my local elections (not just general), which is insane considering the size of my district. It all starts small. If you want to dismantle a compromised DNC, tear it out by the roots, not the head.

        I’m very glad these folks are standing up for what they think is necessary, even in the face of establishment antagonism and some unhinged cops. I hope this spreads like wildfire. We have bigger things to tackle as a species in the year 2024 than stopping sponsored genocide. The sooner we can put pressure on Israel to cease their onslaught, the better.

        • @Krono
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          82 months ago

          But the roots of the compromised DNC are its corporate donors, not your choice of county commissioner. How do you suggest we actually tear it out by the roots?

          • @WhyDoYouPersist@lemmy.world
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            22 months ago

            You’re right, my mistake. I just meant the Democratic Party. Not like it isn’t hive minded by corporate lobbying either, but what else is there to do but vote locally? Someone said recently that only voting in presidential races is like only throwing Hail Mary’s.

            • @Krono
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              42 months ago

              Sorry to be pessimistic. Voting local is a good thing, but I just dont see how local elections could ever add up to large systemic change that we agree is necessary. There is no way to vote out the military industrial complex.

              What else is there to do? I think broad-based protest movements, like the moment for Palestinian liberation that we are watching today, have a shot at changing things. It’s a long shot though - the same forces that crushed George Floyd, Occupy Wallstreet, anti-WTO, etc. will be back again with their winning tactics.

              Overall I think our best hope is with organized labor. Join a union or create one.

              • @WhyDoYouPersist@lemmy.world
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                32 months ago

                Overall I think our best hope is with organized labor. Join a union or create one.

                Great point, I agree with you on that. Joining a union was the best thing I ever did, even though I’m no longer in that industry/active. In order to tackle the money side of this, it’s important to remember that most Americans are all three: workers, voters, and consumers.

                For those who can afford to do so: consuming/supporting local goods/services and avoiding national brands/distributors goes a long way. The new McDonald’s that just got constructed in my town is way cheaper than supporting the local food truck but I’m fortunate to be able to support the local guys–I rued the day that McDonald’s broke ground. I order straight from manufacturers when it makes sense, I buy books from small (online) book distributors or used at local small brick and mortar stores. I don’t know if it makes any damn difference but it feels good, I have to speculate it will have a cumulative effect.

                If I take a step back, the general throughline of any of these ideas is decentralization. We’re doing it now, right here. For the individual, the easiest and most accessible way to apply it to politics directly is voting in local elections, which is why I first mentioned that. And of course, the very act of voting can be prohibitive for many, I’m not discounting that.

                Broad-based protests do work in my mind, and I posit that they sort of have an inverted bell curve effect. Immediately during and after the protests, they raise awareness, draw media frenzy, and stay afloat in current events and discussion. However, months to years later, after the media has moved on and something else is more novel to talk about (like how the West pivoted from Ukraine to Palestine), it can feel like nothing came about, or too little, too late. However in the long term, it seems like a shift can come about that colors the mindset of a generation and those after it. In the case of George Floyd, I’m a white guy and never had many issues with cops. Before that instant I may have even occasionally been a cop apologist when I was younger. But once that event happened and I joined the marches for awareness, I could never see them the same way again. I will now always have my eyes open when seeing cops interact with others. To turn away and pretend every interaction someone is having with a cop is innocent is naive and dangerous, certainly enabling.

                Sorry for the ramblings, I’m no poly sci major, I’m probably not even smart enough to write the above with any confidence. It’s all just my opinions there so take it for what you will.

        • @givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          -72 months ago

          I actually don’t personally know any Biden supporters to verify that statement

          Most people don’t know any either…

          Just people who don’t want trump and Biden is the only other choice.

          There’s a few out there tho

  • @foggy@lemmy.world
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    852 months ago

    Hey, gen Z, Gen alpha, Gen beta… Millennial here.

    We almost, almost fucked shit up with occupy wall st. We just… Had no direction.

    Please, be more hardcore, dont just stink up parks and play frisbee. Here’s some great advice.

    Learn from our mistakes. Do it better. Do it right. You know you have our support.

    • @RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yes, absolutely yes. Make them justify their existence to you, be kind, and think of the greater good as well.

      E: I don’t quite see how this got misinterpreted as disagreement, I’m fully agreeing here. Just saying to be kind once we gain control again as well.

  • Flying SquidM
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    522 months ago

    33 at Indiana University.

    https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/indiana-university-33-pro-palestinian-protesters-arrested-at-dunn-meadow-protest-encampment

    Dunn Meadow, the place where they protested has been a place for campus protests for decades. Anti-Vietnam protests were held there. There was a shantytown protesting South African apartheid there in the 1980s. During the 1990s, a protest village was set up there to protest the Gulf War. I was there as a teenager helping to cook food and otherwise maintain things. I didn’t stay the night, but lots of students did. Every night for weeks.

    And suddenly, just before this protest, they made a rules change and all these students got arrested.

  • HuddaBudda
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    322 months ago

    You will have your tax dollars taken from you, for a maniacal government that is putting North Korea to shame.

    You will not get medicare for all

    You will not get help with education

    You will not get help with the cost of living.

    Please, do not protest. That makes us uncomfortable and we are really scared.

  • @idiomaddict@feddit.de
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    272 months ago

    Ohio State University police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol arrested about three dozen people Thursday night for staging a pro-Palestine encampment on campus – carrying out what is likely the highest number of protest-related arrests there since the Vietnam War.

    Hopefully we don’t repeat anything else of Ohio universities during the Vietnam war, but I have basically zero faith in that.

  • @Mrkawfee@lemmy.world
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    252 months ago

    Sorry but protecting the military industrial complex’s support for apartheid and genocide is more important than your constitutional rights.

    • nifty
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      2 months ago

      The military industrial complex can be repurposed for space exploration and settlement, and would yield far greater profits than what’s achieved from death and destruction. People who have stakes in these decisions already know this.

      But you can only create exploitable working classes by perpetuating said death and destruction. Those who wish to remain in power keep perpetuating the same lies by keeping people divided based on arbitrary criteria like race, religion or whatever.

      Edit to say there are sociopaths amongst us who want to harm others based on their own delusions, so the military industrial complex makes sense for creating defensive capabilities. However, enabling genocide or perpetuating unjust warfare will always create a cycle of bloodlust and violence. Again, the stakeholders of these decisions know this. Creating a cycle of violence and bloodlust serves their needs.

  • @blazera@lemmy.world
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    212 months ago

    the military industrial complex is getting antsy and needs a new excuse to ramp up war production.

    • @intrepid@lemmy.ca
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      42 months ago

      So, sending weapons for two full blown wars isn’t satisfying enough for them?

      Makes sense though. This is the same country that responds to school shootings by equipping teachers with more guns.

  • Optional
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    132 months ago

    So they didn’t just murder them this time? Well that’s nice.

    Oh wait I’m thinking of Kent State.

  • @IcePee@lemmy.beru.co
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    52 months ago

    Not sure that this is because the protest is against Israel or just this is a protest. After all, look what went down during the cessation of Occupy Wall street. Those guys were rough.

  • @sandman@lemmy.ca
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    -332 months ago

    Colleges are indoctrination mills just like public schools.

    You are there to serve and be rewarded based on your service. Any deviation from the norm will be punished.

    Thank you for your money, idiots. Now here’s some 60 year old to walk you through a book.

      • Flying SquidM
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        102 months ago

        OSU and Indiana University.

        I know exactly where that sniper in the IU picture is standing and it’s in direct line of sight of the protesters.

          • Flying SquidM
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            102 months ago

            Yep, they also had 3 more people arrested than at OSU and in a place that has been traditionally the center of political protest at IU, a place where protest has always been allowed in the past. There was a rule change just before the protest so they could justify arresting the students.

            This is the infuriating part though: I was born in Bloomington, I went to IU many years ago, I have still friends, in-laws and my mother in Bloomington, friends who work at IU and even a friend in IU grad school. And almost none of them are talking about it! The friend in grad school is the only one I’ve seen post anything about it on social media! What the fuck?

            • @PriorityMotif@lemmy.world
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              42 months ago

              They’re afraid of retaliation. I saw an article about the UIUC protests with a really strange blurb from a campus rabi/faculty. It seemed very inappropriate for him to be so involved and even giddy about the protests being messed with.

              Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel of Illini Chabad also released a statement in response to this week’s events. He said that yesterday he engaged in “fruitful discussions” with the UIPD, university system president, UIUC Chancellor and senior administrators, where the officials underscored their commitment to upholding safety measures on campus.

              He added that the university has implemented additional security measures such as heightened patrols.

              “I have been in constant communication with law enforcement and administrators since the early hours. Their prompt and proactive response has led to the successful clearance of all tents and cessation of the encampment. Keeping our campus a safe place for all,” Rabbi Tiechtel said regarding the encampment Friday morning.

              www.wcia.com/news/local-news/pro-palestinian-protestors-rally-again-at-uiuc