Photo by R. Rabena for VISIT PHILADELPHIA.
Penn campus police executed a search warrant at an off-campus house that allegedly belongs to pro-Palestinian student activists, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The campus newspaper also reported a Philadelphia cop was involved in the warrant execution. From the report:
Penn’s Division of Public Safety confirmed to The Daily Pennsylvanian that police officers executed a search warrant on Friday at an off-campus location on that day. At least 12 Penn Police officers and one Philadelphia Police Department officer wearing tactical gear “raided the home” of pro-Palestinian Penn student organizers at 6 a.m. on Oct. 18, according to an Instagram post on Monday evening by Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine.
The DP could not confirm the identity of the individuals involved in the incident. The warrant was reviewed by the Philadelphia District Attorney's office and approved by a bail commissioner, DPS said.
The PAO said on social media that Penn police "point[ed] rifles and handguns at [the occupants'] heads" while executing the search warrant and "refused to show a warrant to residents of the house, and refused to provide their names and badge numbers.
"While the students were corralled by police in a room, one student was separated and taken in for questioning. Police also seized this student's personal device on suspicion of vandalism. This student was released shortly after: no charges were given. No arrests were made."
PAO blasted the university and closed its statement by claiming "Penn's actions are proof that they are afraid of the growing power of the Student Intifada. Rather than scaring us into submission, these fear tactics only serve to make us stronger. Repression breeds resistance. We will not stop until Penn divests from the Palestinian genocide, and we will not rest until Palestine is free."
Intifada is an Arabic word for a resistance effort. It is most commonly associated with two periods ofpast popular uprising by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank that aimed to establish an independent state and end Israeli occupation of the territories. The periods saw significant violence with over 5,000 Palestinians and about 1,400 Israelis being killed.
