Students for Justice in Palestine criticize Pitt Police actions

A Pitt student group has criticized the Pitt police for the department’s handling of Occupy… A Pitt student group has criticized the Pitt police for the department’s handling of Occupy Pittsburgh protesters trying to enter the group’s public event two weeks ago.

Students for Justice in Palestine sent an open letter to Pitt police chief Tim Delaney and executive vice chancellor Jerome Cochran in which the group said that when police temporarily barred Occupy Pittsburgh protesters from entering the student group’s Nov. 2 public event, the police were practicing “brazen profiling” of Occupy Pittsburgh protesters and labeled the ordeal “incredibly disrespectful.”

“The refusal of entry by Pitt police was blatant discrimination against Pittsburgh citizens who choose to participate in the Occupy movement … SJP expects the Pitt Police and the University to respect the rights to legitimately organize through the University system,” the letter said. The letter was written by SJP president Ryan Branagan, vice president Karina Goulordava and business manger Mahmoud Yacoub.

Branagan said the “minimum” SJP is asking for is acknowledgement that it was wrong to profile the attendees at their event. He said that the group should not have to worry about Pitt police stopping an event in the future.

“SJP should never have been faced with this altercation, or been treated as guilty until proven innocent,” the letter said.

Delaney upheld the police’s actions in his response but noted a need for an increase in communication between the police and the administration about such events. Cochran could not be reached for comment.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele’s statement on the SJP event was similar to Delaney’s response.

“Because Occupy Pittsburgh is not a Pitt-related group, and because organizers of the meeting were unable to immediately provide a copy of the use permit for the room, police initially limited access to people who were able to produce Pitt identification,” he said in an email.

Two weeks ago, SJP invited Occupy protesters to attend their event “Confronting Apartheid: Voices of the Joint Struggle” in David Lawrence Hall from 8:30 to 11 p.m. The event followed a two-hour Occupy protest through Oakland. When the protesters attempted to enter the Forbes Avenue doors that night, Pitt police did not immediately permit the entrance of about 20 protesters and asked SJP to show proof that the group had permission to hold the event. After SJP provided a copy of the room reservation and the allocation approval from the Student Government Board, Pitt police allowed the approximately 10 remaining non-Pitt student protesters into the event for an hour. Pitt students with ID were not barred from the event.

Branagan said that he has never heard of a student group having to provide a permit to the police. In the letter, SJP upheld that members repeatedly told police that the event was free and open to the public. He felt that the rights of SJP to organize through the University had been violated.

The SJP letter said that the group went through the proper methods to reserve the room in David Lawrence Hall through the Office of the Provost. However, Branagan said that Pitt police suggested they call administration to show proof of permission. When they called, Branagan said that Cochran told him he had not seen evidence of the permit.

During the hunt for the permit, at 9:40 p.m., the police arrested a non-affiliate outside of David Lawrence Hall for failure to leave the building when police told him to do so.

In a response to SJP’s letter, Delaney said that the police were not notified about the group’s meeting. He said that he contacted director of student life Kenyon Bonner and Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kathy Humphrey, “requesting a better system of notifying us of such special events.”

“We are problem solvers, not adversaries,” he said. Delaney also said that the Office of General Counsel put him in contact with the person who handles reservations so that communication can increase between police and the University.

Branagan said that he had already set up a meeting before the Nov. 2 event with the two administration members to discuss student rights, regardless of political beliefs or a constitution, to organize on campus. He said that he wants to talk to Bonner and Humphrey and “judge our next action.”