On Tuesday April 29th, Rutgers SDS led a protest against a Zionist speaking event held by Rutgers Hillel. The invited speaker of the event was U.S Representative Josh Gottheimer, a staunch supporter of Israel’s genocide in Palestine. The rally outside faced intimidation from police, which escalated and resulted in the violent arrest of four protesters. One protester, Thomas Whitehead, has been hit with an additional charge of aggravated assault on law enforcement, a bogus charge when police attacked protesters.

The arrested students were charged with felonies for “rioting” and now face 5-15 years in prison. Alongside these charges all protesters were suspended and banned from campus. National SDS condemns these trumped up charges and sees it as obvious political repression. We stand with the students who rightly protested genocide supporters. These students are on the right side of history by standing with the people of Palestine.

A recent ruling has been made to keep Thomas Whitehead, a protester charged battery of an officer, in jail until trial. This is blatant political repression and intimidation by the state against the pro-Palestine movement. National SDS calls for Thomas Whitehead’s immediate release and for his charges to be dropped!

Protesting is not a crime, and neither is support of Palestine. Genocide supporters are not welcome on our campuses. National SDS stands behind Thomas, as well as the three other protestors arrested alongside him.

Drop the Charges on the Rutgers 4!
Free Thomas Whitehead!
Free Palestine!