Brown University students continue protesting Tuesday after student shot in Vermont

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A group of Brown University students originally planned to walk to the Providence courthouse to support 20 students who were set to be arraigned on trespassing charges from a sit-in on Monday.

However those charges were dropped by the university and city solicitor Monday night, so students instead gathered on the main green Tuesday morning.

Not only did students call for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, but also asked the university to stop funding companies that turn a profit off war efforts.

Tuesday morning’s protest comes after a vigil that was held on Brown’s campus Monday night, that hoped to show support for a Brown University junior who shot in Vermont over Thanksgiving break.

That student was one of three students of Palestinian descent shot in Burlington. Authorities have not confirmed the incident was a hate crime, but some advocacy groups believe it is.

“This university’s one-sided statements and so-called neutrality has lead to the dehumanization of Palestinian life in America, which also lead to the shooting of our friend, Hisham, this weekend in Vermont,” said Talia Sawiris, a senior at Brown University.

“We were there speaking to our experience as students who are organizing a coalition to get brown to divest from companies who are profiting off of the war and specifically to our experiences as 20 Jewish students who were arrested during a sit-in, now that our charges have been dropped,”Ariela Rosenzweig, another senior at Brown University, and member of Jews For Ceasefire Now.

These protests are not the first time students made their voices heard on campus. Back on November 8., 20 students were arrested and escorted off campus after a sit-in protest inside President’s Hall after hours.

“It is disappointing for our university to choose to arrest 20 students who were peacefully protest, without offering us a meeting. It was deeply infuriating after groups met with Christina Paxson many times and failed to receive adequate response to our demands. I had an overwhelming feeling of support, being let out of university hall in handcuffs by police with other students standing in support and committing to stay together until we get divestment,” Rosenzweig added.

A spokesman for the university said students met with President Paxson frequently and said she was not in the state on the day of the sit-in.

The spokesman added that representatives for the president did speak with students and told them they were representing her while she was traveling.