Yet another event was interrupted by pro-Palestine, anti-Israel protesters. That was the University of Michigan’s graduation ceremony, taking place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday, May 4. During the ceremony, a few dozen keffiyeh-clad protesters started chanting and interrupted things but were soon shooed away by police officers to the crowd’s great applause.
This incident came alongside numerous other disruptive pro-Palestine and anti-Israel protests around the country, such as the relatively large protests at UCLA and Columbia University that involved clashes with police. Protests even occurred at typically less protest-ridden SEC schools like Ole Miss and the University of Alabama.
In any case, this event took place at the University of Michigan commencement on Saturday. The Associated Press reported on the matter, saying that the incident occurred during the beginning of the about two hour long event. In the incident, it reports, about 75 people stormed up the main aisle of the venue and, wearing traditional Middle Eastern keffiyehs in a strange fashion fusion with their graduation attire, including graduation caps, made their way toward the graduation stage.
As they made their way toward the stage, the keffiyeh-clad protesters chanted slogans like “Regents, regents, you can’t hide! You are funding genocide!” Additionally, the AP reports, the protesters were bearing signs, such as one that read, “No universities left in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, protests from both sides occurred in the skies above graduation. As the protesters chanted on the ground below, competing planes soared in the skies above advertising competing slogans. The AP reports that one banner read “Divest from Israel now! Free Palestine!” and another said, “We stand with Israel. Jewish lives matter.”
Unlike Columbia and UCLA, where protesters were tolerated for a lengthy amount of time before being dealt with by law enforcement, at the University of Michigan Commencement, law enforcement quickly intervened and university officials said that the event was not seriously interrupted. The protesters were escorted to the back of the venue by state troopers and kept there until the end so as to avoid future interruptions, though no arrests were made.
Graduates, however, were not happy with the interruption. In fact, in video of the incident that emerged, graduates in the crowd could be heard yelling “shut the f*** up” as the protesters interrupted the event. Watch that here:
Then, as the cops led the protesters away, the crowd cheered wildly. The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra, tweeting about that, said, “The crowd cheers at the University of Michigan’s commencement ceremony on Saturday as police responded to pro-Palestinian protesters who disrupted the event. The protesters were reportedly moved to the back of the stadium.”
Watch and listen to the cheering here:
The crowd cheers at the University of Michigan's commencement ceremony on Saturday as police responded to pro-Palestinian protesters who disrupted the event.
The protesters were reportedly moved to the back of the stadium. pic.twitter.com/c7XFWy0jK2
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) May 5, 2024
The University of Michigan appears to have planned for disruptions, as it told the New York Times that it had trained volunteers at the ceremony who were ready and able to assist with managing “disruptions” during the event. So, with planning, the protest came and went with only minor disruption rather than a major headache.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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