6:06 p.m. at Sample Gates
Pro-Palestinian protesters stood between the Sample Gates holding signs and chanting. Graduating IU students and their families stood around the area taking pictures.
Many at the Sample Gates attempted to ignore the chants and continued to take pictures, attempting to avoid the protesters. Two men not associated with the demonstration each separately went up to the protesters, pointing a phone in their face and yelling at them as they chanted.
When the protesters were met with confrontation, they raised their voice and continued to chant louder.
Besides the main group of protesters, a small group of three people joined in “Free, free Palestine” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop we will not rest” chants.
At 6:15 p.m., the protesters left the Sample Gates and marched toward Maxwell Hall where tables and chairs were set up in front of the building. They stopped for a couple moments and then headed back to the encampment in Dunn Meadow.
Upon their return to the encampment, they continued their chants and others from the encampment joined them. When they returned there was a graduate student with his family taking pictures from within the encampment.
4:40 p.m. in Dunn Meadow
Roughly 50 protesters gathered at the encampment in Dunn Meadow. Some sat in a circle for book club — their last for the semester.
Luke Summers, an IU sophomore who was arrested April 25, said members of the encampment have noticed increased IU Police Department presence on campus today. While the attitude in the encampment is peaceful, they said protesters are preparing to “protect each other” in case of police arrival.
Summers said the increased police presence, possibly due to the commencement ceremonies being celebrated on IU’s campus this weekend, is likely an attempt by IUPD to “scare” protesters.
IU administration sent an email Tuesday that said it would institute “designated protest spaces” at the graduate commencement ceremony on May 3 outside of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and at the undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 4 at Memorial Stadium.
Summers said these designated protest spaces are “kind of funny.”
“Dunn Meadow was supposed to be a designated protest space, we saw how that worked out,” Summers said. “If they think we’re going to do that, it shows how aware (IU Administration) is of everything. They’re in their own little bubble.”
Summers said they feel IU Administration does not understand what it’s like for students or Bloomington community members protesting on the ground. They said they believe the administration does not understand the mission of the encampment.
4:30 p.m. in Assembly Hall
Two graduate students wear decorated caps, one with a Palestinian flag and another reading "No Confidence" during the graduate commencement ceremony May 3, 2024, in Assembly Hall in Bloomington. IU hosted its graduate commencement as planned, despite recent protests in Dunn Meadow.
IU hosted its graduate commencement as planned, despite recent protests in Dunn Meadow. Earlier this week, IU implemented a clear bag policy for all commencement ceremonies. These bags were required to be about the size of a one-gallon freezer bag or a small clutch bag the size of a hand. At both graduate and undergraduate ceremonies, signs, banners, flags, placards, non-clear bags and noisemakers were prohibited.
Many graduates wore stickers reading “No Confidence” and “Resign” on their gowns. At least four graduates decorated their caps with the Palestinian flag.
IU President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and members of the Board of Trustees were in attendance. During both Whitten’s and Shrivastav’s speeches, people in the crowd occasionally yelled phrases like “resign” and “free Palestine.”
Despite IU Divestment Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Committee’s shared call for a walkout at Saturday’s undergraduate commencement, no graduates appeared to walk out.
IU President Pamela Whitten speaks to graduates at the graduate commencement May 3, 2024, in Assembly Hall in Bloomington. During Whitten’s speeches, people in the crowd occasionally yelled phrases including “resign” and “free Palestine.”
1:45 p.m. at Charlotte Zietlow Justice Building
A mile and a half from the beginning of the graduation ceremony at Assembly Hall, a group including protesters gathered to support James Jones, one of 34 protesters arrested April 25. Jones, an IU student, is the only protester to be charged with a felony of the 57 total who have been arrested at the encampment since April 25. The Monroe County Prosecutors Office is charging Jones with battery against a public safety official.
While protesters stood outside of the building and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and banged on drums, inside the courtroom supporters sat quietly and waited for Judge Mary Ellen Diekhoff to call Jones's name. After Jones was appointed a public defender and scheduled his next court date at 2 p.m. June 17, the supporters left.
Around 11:00 a.m. online
The IU Divestment Coalition sent a Telegram message encouraging supporters to attend a hearing for a pro-Palestinian protester being charged with a felony at 1 p.m. Friday at the Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center, located at 301 N. College Ave.
The Monroe County Prosecutors Office is charging James Jones, one of 34 protesters arrested April 25, with battery against a public safety official, according to the case summary. Jones posted a $2,000 surety bond — a bond that serves as a guarantee a defendant will appear in court — and $500 cash bond April 26.
Battery against a public safety official is classified as a level 6 felony, which is punishable by up to 2.5 years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine, according to Indiana Code.
Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Christine Talley Haseman will oversee the hearing.
Around 10:08 a.m. online
The ACLU of Indiana announced it will file a lawsuit against IU for violating the first amendment rights of protesters banned from campus for one year after their arrests.
The three plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Benjamin Robinson, an IU professor in Germanic studies, Jasper Wirtshafter, a Bloomington resident and Madeleine Meldrum, an IU graduate student, according to an ACLU of Indiana press release.
The suit calls the plaintiffs’ bans from campus an “unlawful prior restraint” and requests their bans be dropped so they can return to campus to participate in current and future protests.
“Since 1969 Dunn Meadow has been a public forum, a place for persons to engage in First Amendment expression,” ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk said in the statement. “Indiana University cannot preemptively ban persons from engaging in this protected expression by prohibiting them from entering Dunn Meadow for a year or more. Our future ability to engage in speech activities cannot be denied in this way. This is a prior restraint, and it is unconstitutional.”
IU executive director of media relations Mark Bode said in an email IU does not comment on pending litigation.
Yesterday online
IU faculty released plans for a “silent” protest prior to Friday’s graduate commencement and Saturday’s undergraduate commencement.
“We, the Faculty of Indiana University, stand in silent protest against the threats posed by this administration to the safety of our students and to the long-held values of our community,” a flyer read.
The statement said the protests will remain silent to honor students, but signs and academic regalia are welcome. The first protest will be from 1-2 p.m. Friday at 17th Street and Fee Lane, and the second protest will be from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday at 17th and Dunn Street. Each location is within half a mile of where graduation ceremonies are supposed to take place.
On Thursday, a petition from faculty condemning the use of Indiana State Police in the Dunn Meadow arrests and demanding the immediate resignation or firing of IU President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav closed with a total of 1,012 signatures. The petition said non-faculty signatures were removed.
UPDATE: This story was updated to include a response from IU executive director of media relations Mark Bode.
