MUNCIE, Ind. — The Pro-Palestinian protest movement reached Ball State University on Wednesday with an estimated 200 protesters — many of them BSU students — conducting a rally on University Green in the heart of the Muncie campus.
At universities across the nation in recent days, student protests against Israel's war in Gaza resulted in campus conflict, standoffs, arrests and even violence.
All things considered, the Ball State protest remained reasonably calm on Wednesday.
About 25 of the protesters in a reported violation of university policy set up an encampment. The protesters' camp was at Ball State's new Peace Plaza, west of the Whitinger Business Building on University Green. A few students were in a pair of tents at that location, while others had blankets and sleeping bags set up on the pavement.
In a release issued late Wednesday, Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman expressed disappointment that Ball State officials had apparently decided to allow the encampment to remain.
"I stand firmly behind the women and men of law enforcement who were ready and willing to enforce university policy and uphold law and order," Hoffman said.
Ball State and President Geoffrey Mearns did not immediately issue a statement about Wednesday's events.
The earlier protest rally drew a small group of counter-demonstrators — including a former Hoosier who now lives in Israel — who held up Israel's flag. The pro-Israel demonstrators noted the county's recent military action had been in response to an Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel by the Hamas militant group that saw about 1,200 people killed and more than 200 others taken hostage.
Protest signs and chanting at Ball State
The rally, in a grassy area north of both Bracken Library and the Frog Baby Fountain, began shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday, with dozens of participants bringing signs demanding freedom for Palestine, with references to the reported deaths of 35,000 Palestinians in the wake of the Oct, 7 attack.
Other signs criticized — and in at least one instance, called for the arrest of — President Joe Biden over his support for Israel.
One sign called for Ball State to "divest from Israel." Another included a profane reference to police.
An organized series of chants followed, again calling for freedom for Palestinians and offering criticism of Biden.
"Biden, Biden, you can't hide," went one chant. "We charge you with genocide."
At one point the protesters briefly replaced Biden's name in the chant with that of Mearns, Ball State's president.
Eventually the protesters began moving, traveling in a large circle around University Green as they held up their signs and chanted. A man near the front of the makeshift parade waved a Palestinian flag.
Many of the protesters wore masks — from bandannas to the medical masks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic — that obscured the lower half of their faces.
A participant in the protest declined to discuss the rally with The Star Press.
"I don't think we're comfortable talking to media," she said.
'A lot of hurt on both sides'
A handful of Israel supporters stood several yards from the pro-Palestinian protesters, near the Frog Baby Fountain, holding up the flag of Israel.
One was Lori Kate Lowenhar, a native Hoosier who has lived in Israel for more than a quarter-century. She has several family members who live in the Muncie area.
Lowenhar, who is Jewish, is a music educator and professional musician. She said her friends and co-workers include Muslims and Christians, "and everyone gets along."
"What saddens me is people here in the states are misguided, (and) I don't even know where they get their information from," Lowenhar said.
"War is war, and when somebody comes into your country and does what they did, of course a country's going to want to defend itself.
"I think there's a lot of hurt on both sides. Obviously there are innocent people in Gaza who have been killed. War is devastating."
Lowenhar said she was a "proud Israeli," adding that the country "has to finish getting rid of terrorism."
She said she wished the pro-Palestinian protesters nearby "would be able to hear both sides."
The encampment issue at Peace Plaza at Ball State
Late Wednesday evening, a few of the protesters at the encampment at Ball State's Peace Plaza appeared to be trying to sleep.
In their midst — along with two tents, blankets and pillows — was a large assortment of bottled water.
Joseph Souza, a Ball State political science student from the Indianapolis suburbs, had been one of the leaders in the earlier chanting.
"I'm going to be here as long as I can," Souza said. "It's not illegal to be on campus, against university guidelines to be on campus."
Souza said the "whole point" of the protest and encampment was "education and awareness."
"I can't speak for everyone in the encampment," he said. "What I will say is I'll be here supporting people and their civil disobedience in any way I can, in any capacity I can.
"As for how long we're here, really that's a question for the university, and the police officers as well. Other students don't seem to be having a problem with our presence."
Delaware County prosecutor 'watching with disgust'
Hoffman, however, took exception to the protesters' presence from a law-enforcement standpoint.
In his Wednesday night news release, Hoffman said he had been "watching with disgust as 'protesters' at various colleges and universities have been permitted to blatantly violate the criminal law."
"It seems that some university administrators across the country, including right here in Indiana, have intentionally buried their head in the sand and are refusing to enforce campus polices and uphold law and order," the prosecutor said.
"I'd like to know why protesters were allowed to set up tents overnight on Ball State's campus," Hoffman said. "This is in direct violation of university policy."
Hoffman said a "selected enforcement of policy can have disastrous consequences."
Douglas Walker is a news reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Pro-Palestinian protest movement reaches Ball State
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