Individuals organized outside of Hochstetter Hall at UB's North Campus to call for a ceasefire to the genocide in Gaza and for the University at Buffalo and the UB Foundation to divest from Israel. Specifically, SUNY Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) “wants financial divestment of all stocks, funds, partnerships, endowments and other monetary instruments from companies complicit in human rights abuse in Palestine, an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and universities, and they demand financial investments into education on Palestinian culture, literature, social movements, history and diaspora.”

After arriving at Capen Hall, protesters began setting up tents on the lawn next to Hochstetter Hall. An officer speaking through a loudspeaker ordered the protesters to disassemble those tents and place them on a nearby sidewalk within 20 minutes or face arrest. They cited a university policy from 2020 that “prohibits indoor and outdoor encampments” and “overnight assemblies.” Three students driving a U-Haul van with additional wooden pallets for the encampment were ordered to drive away from the crowd.

In response to the order to break up the camp, protesters booed the officers, shouting that UB was “our school” and that they were “legally allowed to remain for 12 hours.” The protesters still complied with the police order and removed their tents, transitioning to a sit-in.

At 8 p.m., police ordered the protesters gathered outside of Hochstetter to disperse before 8:22 p.m. or face arrest. Shortly after, University Campus Police, New York State Police, Erie County Sheriff Deputies, Buffalo Police, Amherst Police, Kenmore Police, both town and city Tonawanda Police, Lancaster Police, Cheektowaga Police, Orchard Park Police, West Seneca Police and Evans Police descended on the sit-in specifically targeting Muslim students who were wrapping up prayers. A UB spokesperson said that UB requested the outside officers come “as a precaution” and to “provide UPD with additional support if needed.”

Most protesters remained in place with locked arms as police closed in, chanting “free Palestine” and “end genocide.” Others were arrested and placed into marked police cars or onto a UB Stampede bus. Police chased the crowd toward Mary Talbert Way, continuing to make violent arrests. Multiple officers tackled protesters. One officer was filmed pushing a demonstrator’s face into the ground.

There was a ratio of at least 2:1 cop:protester. A feme presenting student's hijab was unraveled as she was forcibly restrained. One protestor's head was slammed into a door and had to be treated at the hospital for his injuries. A 67 year old man also had to be treated at the hospital for an injury to his arm.

One non-UPD officer pushed a Spectrum editor attempting to film the arrests and told him to "get the f—k out of here." When the editor identified himself as media, the officer said, "I don't care."

A small number of protesters briefly barricaded themselves in Capen Hall, which houses many of UB’s administrative offices. A Stampede bus carrying roughly 10 detained protesters left campus around 9 p.m. The protesters inside could be heard chanting “free Palestine” as the bus drove by Hochstetter. After protesters had largely dispersed, police returned to the site of the attempted encampment and Founders Plaza. They confiscated belongings left at the site as evidence like granola bars.

Though there were no announced counter-protests, some Jewish Student Union members laughed at the anti-genocide demonstrators. One did push-ups next to the protest. While police were arresting demonstrators, two individuals held up an Israeli flag. One shouted, “F—k those terrorists.”

Outcome

UB claimed 15 arrests were made. Protest organizers said that the actual number was 18. According to UB, the charges that were filed included:

• Loitering

• Trespassing

• Disorderly conduct

• Resisting arrest

All those who faced charges, have had them dismissed.

9 participants of the protest filed a Notice of Claim against Erie County, Erie County Sheriff's Office, the Town of Amherst, the Amherst Police Department, the City of Buffalo, the City of Buffalo Police Department, the Village of Kenmore, the Kenmore Police Department, the Town of Tonawanda, the Town of Tonawanda Police Department, the City of Tonawanda, the City of Tonawanda Police Department, the Town of Hamburg, the Town of Hamburg Police Department, the Village of Hamburg, the Village of Hamburg Police Department, Buffalo Police Officer Sean Ford, Buffalo Police Officer Michael Maritato, Buffalo Police Officer Bradley Caruana, and Police Officers John Doe #1-60 for personal injuries and civil rights violations, loss of income and medical expenses, equitable damages, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees and costs for the police brutality and violation of protected First Amendment Rights they sustained on May 1st, 2024.

One UB student said: "I feel like what they teach us in the class, and what they've taught us our whole lives about how we have freedom of speech, how we're in a democracy, just went out the window. We are out here trying to exercise our rights and those rights are being violated. It makes me feel angry against the (UB) president because I'm genuinely wondering, 'Where are you?' Your students are being violently arrested."

Another student said: "I'm hoping that at some point UB divests, I hope at some point that we see some change, but this is the situation right now and we have to fight somehow."