Three protestors were arrested by University Police (UP) Monday afternoon during a pro-Palestine demonstration outside the Marshall Student Center (MSC), according to USF spokesperson Althea Johnson.

Johnson said the three arrests included a student, an employee and an individual who is not associated with the university. 

Related: USF pro-Palestine hunger strikers removed from BOT meeting – The Oracle

After beginning their protest outside the library, the growing group of around 80 people moved behind the MLK Plaza across from the Interdisciplinary Science building. 

One protestor began setting up a tent, which prompted a UP officer to begin taking down the tent as he was assembling it. 

After the protestor continued to build the tent, he was arrested as other protestors followed behind, yelling “Shame on you” at the officers. 

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WUSF staff assistant Maria Hollenback was charged with trespassing battery on a law enforcement officer. Student Sebastian Martinez was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest without violence. Simon Rowe was arrested on charges of trespassing. Both Martinez and Rowe were released after SDS helped pay their bond.

Students calling for USF to divest from companies with financial ties to Israel began their protest at noon before they were asked to move by MSC Director Matt Marshall. 

The day before Monday’s protest, Dean of Students Danielle McDonald sent an email to the student body saying tents are prohibited on campus without prior approval. She also said no one had requested such approval during USF’s exam week.

Related: A guide to activism on the USF Tampa campus – The Oracle

Johnson said this warning was ignored. 

“Before removing tents, university staff again tried to advise protestors that they could not use tents,” she said. “Participants refused to comply with directions from staff members.”

Protestor and former hunger striker Will Mleckzo said the other students that were arrested were “target[ed] for no reason.”

“It was just students that were resisting, trying to remain peaceful to ensure that their fellow students weren’t being harmed and then the police shoved those students to the ground,” Mleckzo said.

Related: USF students to go on hunger strike for Palestine: ‘Putting our lives on the line’ – Oracle

On its Instagram, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) posted that protestors were “brutalized” for exercising their first amendment rights.

Related: Four people arrested during SDS protest – The Oracle

In the email, McDonald referenced the student code of conduct, specifically USF policy 6-028, and that “non-compliance with these university policies” would have consequences for the group and/or individuals.

“As is always the case on our campuses, free speech is subject to time, place and manner restrictions,” she wrote. “To allow students to continue their studies for final exams without disruption, this week those restrictions will be extended to apply to all academic buildings…”

SDS, the organization responsible for organizing Monday’s demonstration, posted that they were planning a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on its Instagram page. The encampment was planned to “commemorate the anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba and to denounce genocide in Gaza.”

Before the protestors moved to the grassy area near the MSC, they chanted and spoke for an hour at the intersection of USF Apple Drive and Leroy Collins Boulevard. 

SDS’s demonstration is one of several protests across the country that have impacted universities. Similarly motivated protests have forced universities, such as Columbia University, to move to online instruction for the remainder of the year. 

Students at the University of Florida and Florida State University received similar warnings that they could face consequences by hosting an encampment on campus

On Friday, Governor Ron DeSantis called for state universities to enforce their code of conduct, saying, “Yes, it is a matter of will,” in a post on X.

SDS member Joseph Charry said moving students away from the library was a violation of their First Amendment rights to speech and assembly.

“Because we’re an interim suspended group, we cannot partake in any protests, which is completely illegal obviously,” Charry said.

He said SDS was suspended “due to another event” they had.

Johnson said suspended student organizations are not allowed to host events and activities.

Charry was one of the students who spoke with Marshall before relocating from the library. He said Marshall tried to “intimidate” him, threatening to call the cops. 

Marshall did not provide a comment at the time of publication.

Before the group marched to the grassy area by the MSC, Charry reminded the protestors that they outnumbered the administration and the group of counter protestors.

“We’re protestors and we have the right to protest,” Charry said.

Standing on the opposite corner of the USF Apple Drive and Leroy Collins Boulevard intersection, roughly 20 students, some holding Jewish flags, observed the protest. 

Zane Shapiro, environmental science and policy sophomore, said he cannot ignore what is happening on campus.

“We’re coming to the end of our Passover holiday and we’re being reminded of the oppression of the Jewish people in history and we can’t help but be proud of the Jews that are being strong and standing strong,” Shapiro said.

He said the protests on campus sometimes make him feel unsafe.

“But we have to stand strong,” he said.

Related: ‘We are scared’: Jewish students feel unsafe amid Israel-Palestine conflict – The Oracle

SDS asked for support to bail out the protestors who were arrested on its Instagram. They also posted that the group had “successfully set up encampments for Palestine despite repression [from] police.”

“We’ll be out here as long as we need to,” Mleckzo said.

SDS posted that they would be “packing up” after 5 p.m. and returning by 10 a.m. Tuesday.

This story has been updated