Scenes from the college protest encampment that Philadelphia police refused to disband

While walking around my alma mater and observing the anti-Israel encampment on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, one thing became abundantly clear: The inmates are running the asylum. This goes for the university and the Philadelphia Police Department, which outright refused Penn’s request to help clear the protesters and the encampment.

I visited there a couple of times over the last week. It was a shocking revelation, to say the least. Admittedly, there was no violence, rebellion, or histrionics when I was there. Other than the filth it projected, it looked just like camping on a lawn. There have been heated moments, tense exchanges, and acts of intimidation on campus reported — I just didn’t happen to be there for any of them.

The once beautiful College Green lawn outside historic College Hall now looked like a dirty, trashy, polluted country. A malodorous stench emanated from the encampment. Tents and signs were propped up all over the lawn that contained the usual hyperbolic hysteria and left-wing messaging.

The university’s famous statue of Benjamin Franklin was draped in protester garb and decorated with a Palestinian flag on its body and a hood over its head. A sign that appeared to be taped to the monument read, “Free, Free Palestine.”

I also noticed that many of the people encamped at the university did not actually go there. Some seemed to be young adults who were either unemployed or professional protesters. However, the narrative that these were all students from the University of Pennsylvania is unequivocally false.

The university tried to remove the group peacefully from its lawn. However, all requests were outright ignored. Then Penn offered an ultimatum and gave them a deadline to disband the encampment. The protesters refused — and Penn did absolutely nothing.

Penn’s deadline came and went, and the school did nothing. In doing so, it handed all the power over the delinquents who refused to follow the rules and law. To make matters worse, the college asked the Philadelphia Police Department for its “immediate help to disband the Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”

“Nah” was essentially its response.

I contacted the Philadelphia Police Department to ask how it could refuse such a request for help. The response was jaw-dropping.

“The PPD remains committed to facilitating safe demonstrations while ensuring the safety and upholding the First Amendment rights of all who live, work or visit our city,” Police Public Affairs responded. “In line with this commitment, the Philadelphia Police Department maintains a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Pennsylvania Police Department to ensure effective cooperation in situations requiring a police response. As per the MOU, the PPD will provide assistance to the UPPD as needed.”

“Our response will be based on the specific circumstances of each situation,” Public Affairs said.

Unless, of course, those circumstances are cries for help amid anarchy.

Apparently, if one claims he or she is demonstrating for anything under the guise of free speech, then that person can be absolved from any responsibility for breaking rules or criminal behavior. It was a borderline blasphemous statement that made no sense. The protesters have essentially been hostage takers, and school officials and law enforcement agencies have surrendered to comply with their demands.

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It’s no wonder they keep replicating this kind of behavior at colleges throughout the nation. These colleges are either enabling the radical left-wing agenda, encouraging their actions, or are gutless when it comes to the protesters. These groups know they can get away with doing whatever they want, whenever they want. They are the true rulers of these schools.

The Philadelphia Police Department and the University of Pennsylvania should be embarrassed. They’ve enabled people, many of whom have no relation to the university whatsoever, to threaten, harass, and intimidate, all because they weaponized the First Amendment to hide the cowardice of refusing to do what is necessary.