What protestors described as a peaceful protest on the Washington University campus Saturday night, turned contentious when police arrived.
Around 80 to 100 people were arrested, including U.S. presidential Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein and two of her staff members.
On social media, Stein said all of the people detained at the St. Louis County jail were released around 2 a.m.
Stein's campaign issued a statement saying, "The demand from the encampment was specifically for the university to divest from Boeing, which manufactures munitions used in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza at their nearby St. Charles facility. The Stein campaign supports the demands of the students and their peaceful protest and assembly on campus. Student protest for peace and civil liberties has always represented the best part of our collective moral conscience."
Also attending the protest was St. Louis City Aldermanic President Megan Green. She was not arrested but she said the police action, which included officers from six departments, was unnecessary. She said students were mostly sitting around eating snacks when officers arrived.
"I think the police response was definitely dictated by the university," Green told KMOX. "I don't think organically that number of police officers would be on site without the request of the university."
Green said she's been to a lot protests and never seen such an excessive use of force.
"I saw police grab one girl by her hair and drag her out," she said. "I saw them body slam several people including a faculty member, who had his glasses broken."
The St. Louis City Metropolitan Police Department reported on social media:
"Earlier today, SLMPD officers were positioned in Forest Park to ensure the safety of protestors expressing their First Amendment right to peacefully protest. No arrests were made during the demonstration inside of Forest Park.
"The protest then moved outside of the City of St. Louis onto the campus of Washington University. SLMPD officers were present at the protest on the campus at the request of the Washington University Police Department. No protestors were arrested by SLMPD officers."
Those arrested were given a criminal trespass warning that prohibits them from being on the campus in the future. It's not clear how such a ban might be enforced, given that the group included students and several faculty members.
Green discussed the event further on her appearance on the Chris and Amy Show, telling hosts Chris Rongey and Amy Marxkors she did not think police presence was necessary during the protests.
"I think they were not necessary," said Green on The Chris and Amy Show. "We didn't see any violence from these protests, they were rather jovial, a lot of just chanting, singing, dancing. They were in the middle of an open field for all intent and purposes. There wasn't an ability to create any kind of destruction."
Green said she hopes protestors and the university can open up a line of communication because what happened Saturday night could've been avoided.
"I really hope that going forward, the university chooses dialogue and diplomacy over just sending police in on their own students and faculty," said Green.
Hundreds of people have been arrested on campuses nationwide during a series of demonstrations and encampments with protestors calling on schools to sever financial ties with Israel and divest from companies they see as aiding the war in Gaza.