PHILADELPHIA (CN) — Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania officials were deadlocked Wednesday over the weeklong pro-Palestinian encampment on Penn’s campus, as the district’s councilmember voiced support for protesters just days after Penn’s president ordered them to immediately vacate campus grounds.
Since Thursday, students and other protesters have occupied a portion of Penn’s College Green, erecting a tent city in protest over the university’s affiliations with Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The protesters demand that Penn disclose its financial holdings, divest from all investments in the war and provide clemency to students facing discipline over earlier pro-Palestinian protests.
City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier — who represents Penn’s campus — dropped in on the encampment Wednesday afternoon to express her approval of the demonstration.
“I came here to support the students,” Gauthier said. “They have a right to protest, they have a right to free speech, and I’m hoping that Penn recognizes that. And they also have the right to do that without penalty. So I’m hoping that this will remain peaceful, that protesters will be protected, and that they won’t have to worry about penalties based on them expressing their thoughts on a very important social issue.”
Gauthier’s support directly contrasts the position taken by Penn administrators, who have argued that the encampment has, by definition, already violated the law.
Signs posted around the encampment area on Monday warned protesters that by erecting tents and living in College Green without authorization, they had violated Titles 4 and 14 of Philadelphia Code.
Penn officials also plan to hold on Thursday disciplinary hearings for three students who participated in the encampment, suggesting they may have violated the university’s "Guidelines on Open Expression," which govern on-campus protest and free speech.
"These actions, while unfortunate, are necessary," a Penn spokesperson said.
Late Friday, the university's Interim President J. Larry Jameson issued an order for the protesters to vacate campus grounds “immediately,” albeit to minimal effect.
Gauthier has thus far been unable to address her differences in opinion over the encampment with Jameson — despite representing Penn in city council, Jameson has refused to answer any of Gauthier’s calls since the encampment first began.
“Penn isn’t an island,” Harrison Feinman, director of communications for Gauthier’s office, told Courthouse News in a statement Wednesday. “They have a responsibility to engage with public officials who represent them and their students.”
Joining Gauthier in her visit to the encampment was Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who declined to explicitly support the encampment, instead emphasizing the need for city and university officials to ensure students’ right to peaceful protest.
“The First Amendment comes from here,” Krasner said. “This is Philadelphia — we don’t have to do stupid like they did at Columbia. We don’t have to do stupid.”
Students at Columbia University established an encampment on their New York campus on April 17, calling it the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” and demanding that Columbia divest from Israel.
While the Columbia protest would spur a wave of similar protests across U.S. colleges — like Penn — and even to colleges in other countries, tensions quickly ballooned as NYPD was authorized to initiate two raids on the campus, fully suppressing the protest with plans to occupy the campus until May 17. Over 300 protesters have been arrested over the course of the encampment.
In contrast, Penn’s demonstration has been mostly peaceful, with minimal police intervention thus far.
The only notable incident came Wednesday morning, when a man entered the encampment, telling protesters he was affiliated with “Penn facilities” before spraying an odorous irritant across a section of the grounds. Penn police officers eventually removed the man from campus and charged him with harassment under a summary offense. Penn officials confirmed that he is not affiliated with the university.
Krasner stressed on Penn’s campus Wednesday that while such acts of violence should not be tolerated, students should be allowed to voice their opinions freely.
“What we should be doing here is upholding our tradition of being a welcoming, inviting city where people say things even if other people don’t like them, because they have a right to say it in the United States, and where protesters also have an obligation to remain nonviolent, and to engage in speech activity and an activity that does not become illegal,” he said. “That is what I’m hoping will happen here.”
Despite the looming threat of police intervention echoing Columbia’s, Sophia, a student activist who declined to provide her last name, told Courthouse News that she believes fighting for the encampment’s goals are worth the risks.
“That’s a concern,” she said. “But I think at the end of the day, fears of police escalation or disciplinary action kind of pales in comparison to anything that is happening on the ground in Gaza.”
On the opposite coast, a peaceful May Day rally in Oakland, California drew hundreds to the city's federal building.
For International Worker's Day, the city center filled with people protesting U.S. support of Israel's bombardment of Gaza, alongside workers' organizations and unions. Caregiver and Service Employees International Union 2015 member Rosalba Castallanos said she and union members want better pay and more respect.
"I came for every worker, to support them," she said. "It's a lot of work, and nobody is paying enough money."
Oakland resident and retired bus driver Ellen Murray said that the Progressive Labor party is calling on the city and Alameda County to divest from financial connections to Israel's government.
Port of Oakland workers blocked some operations in solidarity with Palestine around 2 p.m., and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union will refuse to ship military equipment to Israel, protesters said.
Natalie Hanson contributed to this report from Oakland, California.
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