Virginia State Police use force to remove protesters from UVA campus 

Note: This is the first of two stories written about the incident published originally on Charlottesville Community Engagement. The second is available there and will be posted here tomorrow. This one was written before UVA’s Town Hall on May 7, 2024

Acres of land in Albemarle County owned by the University of Virginia have long been associated with political commentary and protest. Such activities are often seen as in keeping with the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, UVA’s founder and author of the Declaration of Independence. 

In June 2012, large crowds stood outside the Rotunda during a long Board of Visitors meeting called to discuss the ouster of President Teresa Sullivan. When the appointed body adjourned on June 19 well after midnight, a spirited crowd followed Rector Helen Dragas to her car demanding her resignation and Sullivan’s reinstatement.  There was no large police presence and the incident played out peacefully. 

On August 11, 2017, an organized group of hundreds of people carrying tiki torches paraded around Central Grounds after dark before surrounding a group of counter protestors in front of the Rotunda. According to many reports, police were present but did nothing to intervene that evening. Many would go on to participate in the Unite the Right rally the next day in downtown Charlottesville. 

At a Board of Visitors’ meeting on March 1 of this year, a group of graduate students demanding fair wages held up signs in a Rotunda meeting room while the appointed body conducted their business. They were not removed and were allowed to protest. 

Other examples from before I was a reporter in this community:

• UVA Counters Student’s Charges of Racial Inequity, Associated Press, April 10, 1994
• UVA Students Arrested In Living Wage Protest, WFMY, April 16, 2006
• UVA living wage advocates undeterred by arrests, Jess Blumberg, GW Hatchet, April 27, 2006

A new era has perhaps begun now that the Virginia State Police have been called at the request of the UVA Administration to remove a group that were not following rules that govern conduct on UVA’s campus. 

On Saturday, May 4, the University of Virginia sent out an emergency alert at 12:13 p.m. stating “police activity in the area of the Rotunda / Chapel” and instructed people to avoid the area. 

All across the United States, groups of people opposed to the Israeli government’s campaign against Hamas in Palestine have set up encampments on college campuses to draw attention to their demands that higher education institutions divest their endowments from anything that financially supports the Israeli government. One such camp was set up on what UVA refers to as Grounds. 

At 2:42 p.m. on Saturday, UVA sent out an emergency alert declaring that an unlawful assembly had been declared. That’s the same declaration made on August 12, 2017 when the Unite the Right rally was being held in what was then called Lee Park to protest the removal of a statue honoring a Confederate general. 

In both cases, Virginia State Police in riot gear moved in with force to physically remove anyone in their way to enforce state code which has the following definition for “unlawful assembly.” 

“Whenever three or more persons assembled share the common intent to advance some lawful or unlawful purpose by the commission of an act or acts of unlawful force or violence likely to jeopardize seriously public safety, peace or order, and the assembly actually tends to inspire persons of ordinary courage with well-grounded fear of serious and immediate breaches of public safety, peace or order, then such assembly is an unlawful assembly,” reads § 18.2-406.

The punishment is a Class 1 misdemeanor unless participants are carrying firearms. Then it is a Class 5 felony. If a participant fails to disperse and remains on site, it is a Class 3 misdemeanor. 

Media accounts initially reported that 25 people were arrested as a phalanx of state police officers used tear gas, pepper spray, and their shields to push people out to University Avenue. 

Shortly afterward, President James E. Ryan sent a message to people affiliated with UVA to explain why the protestors needed to be removed. 

“Beginning Tuesday afternoon of this week, a small group, including members of our community, participated in a peaceful public demonstration near the UVA Chapel,” Ryan wrote. “Until last evening, they complied with requests to adhere to University policies, including a long-standing prohibition on erecting tents absent a permit.”

Ryan said UVA also grew concerned that the protestors invited non-affiliated members of the public to join them. He said a final warning was given by UVA Police Chief Tim Longo on Saturday morning but was ignored. 

“We hoped and tried to handle this locally,” Ryan wrote. “But when UPD’s attempts to resolve the situation were met with physical confrontation and attempted assault, it became necessary to rely on assistance from the Virginia State Police.”

The removal of the encampment on UVA’s campus on Saturday took place several days after similar removals at Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech. People were arrested in those incidents as well. 

On Sunday, Virginia Attorney General Anthony Miyares addressed the UVA incident directly on Fox News. His comments echoed those of Ryan. 

“The reality is that what you had at UVA were students that were warned repeatedly,” Miyares said. “They were violating both their student code of conduct. It was an unlawful assembly. There was trespassing. There were outsiders that were there.” 

Miyares claimed the students refused to have the tents inspected to see if there were weapons present. He then compared the Commonwealth to other states where protestors have been arrested on college campuses. 

“Virginia is not New York,” Miyares said. “You have a very different Governor and different Attorney General and we’re not going to tolerate that. When we had to send in the Virginia State Police, that meant unfortunately they were not dealing with our fentanyl crisis, our human trafficking issues that we have a focus on. They had to deal with these students that instead of acting like adults, they acted like coddled children.” 

It should be noted that dozens were arrested at Columbia University, a school which has now canceled its main commencement exercise scheduled for May 16. Read an article in the Columbia Spectator for more information. 

In his appearance on Fox News Miyares said “outside agitators” have become involved with the protests at VCU and accused the protestors of threatening officers with assault.

The crackdown on outsiders using UVA’s private space to protest did not deter further action. 

CBS19 reports that on Sunday, a group of about 100 people marched from the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers to UVA President Ryan’s house at Carr Hill. There were no arrests. 

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the May 6, 2024 edition of the newsletter. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.