October 22, 2024
Chris Compendio/PhillyVoice
The group Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine alleges that police 'raided' the home of student organizers Friday morning. Penn says officers executed a search warrant following proper protocols.
A group of pro-Palestine students at the University of Pennsylvania say police "raided" the off-campus home of student organizers on Friday morning.
Penn Students Against the Occupation, an organization that the university banned from campus in April, made the allegations in an Instagram post on Monday night. Penn's Division of Public Safety confirmed to the Daily Pennsylvanian that a warrant was executed after it was reviewed by the District Attorney's Office and approved by a bail commissioner.
"While we do not comment on open criminal investigations, we can confirm that on Friday, Penn Police did execute a search warrant at an off-campus location," the Division of Public Safety told the newspaper. "This search warrant was executed following all proper policies and procedures."
Penn did not say where the search warrant was executed.
Penn Students Against the Occupation says the raid occurred at 6 a.m. and that police in tactical gear "stormed the house" while students were sleeping. The group claims officers "pointed rifles and handguns" at the students and "refused to show a warrant" or share their names or badge numbers.
The student group also says police brought a student in for questioning and seized the student's "personal device" before releasing the student. The group says no charges were given and no arrests were made.
Penn's Division of Public Safety did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Philadelphia Police did not immediately provide a comment.
Dustin Slaughter from the District Attorney's Office confirmed that the office "reviewed and approved a search warrant for a location in West Philadelphia" related to an ongoing investigation by Penn's Division of Public Safety but had no role in executing the search warrant. Slaughter says that Penn Police have not submitted any requests to approve charges.
The student group alleges the raid was an attempt by Penn to "instill fear and traumatize their own students," adding that the university "allowing their private force to point rifles at the faces of their students of color is an unjustifiable act of terror."
Penn revoked Penn Students Against the Occupation's status as a registered student group on April 19, saying it had "failed to comply with policies that govern student organizations" despite repeated efforts to resolve issues of noncompliance.
In May, Philadelphia Police and Penn Police disbanded a pro-Palestine encampment that had been on the university's campus for more than two weeks, making 33 arrests. The university has since banned encampments as part of temporary guidelines on student demonstrations.
