‘Our chants turned to screams’: Civil rights group calls out police for ‘endangering’ USF student protesters

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a news conference in Tampa on Thursday to denounce the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and University of South Florida Police Department for tear-gassing protesters at an on-campus demonstration on Tuesday.

CAIR aims to rally the community against what the organization called the “brutal” arrests of ten people. The arrested individuals included both students and non-students .

On Tuesday, a large group of students gathered on campus to call on USF to divest from companies like weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin, who they say supplies U.S.-made weapons to be used in Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza strip.

The “Free Palestine” protesters also called for a cease-fire between the Israeli military and Hamas and an end to the U.S. involvement in the conflict.

Police in riot gear fired tear gas canisters toward protesters after declaring the demonstration an “unlawful assembly.” Officers were also carrying guns that fire rubber bullets. USF police said the protesters’ umbrellas and plywood planks were considered potential weapons.

“They unleashed the tear gas chemicals filled the air and our chants turned into screams,” said Alina Atiq, a USF student who heads their USF Divest Coalition. “I shut my eyes to prevent it from blinding me. I began coughing as I lost the ability to breathe and I fell to the ground.”

The arrests violated protesters’ Constitutionally-protected right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, according to CAIR.

A USF sociology professor said she was “infuriated” that the students’ “lives were put in danger.”

“Parents around the country should be outraged and parents in Florida should be outraged,” the professor said. “These are our children that are attending these campuses and their lives have been put at risk.”

USF protesters held another demonstration Wednesday along Fowler Ave. 8 On Your Side’s Jeff Patterson reports that police kept their distance and even blocked traffic as several hundred people marched down the street and back onto campus.

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