2024-05-01 05:45:18
A 65-year-old history professor was “brutally beaten by police” and arrested during a pro-Palestine protest at Washington University in the US city of St. Louis over the weekend. This comes amid the ongoing protests at US universities against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with authorities arresting more than 1,000 people from campuses across the country since the agitations began on April 18.
His wife shared a video on social media where he is seen being physically assaulted and dragged by several officers at the scene of the protest.
Steve Tamari, a history professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, was one of the 100 people, including 23 students and four employees, arrested during the protest on April 27 at Washington University.
On Monday night, Steve Tamari’s wife Sandra posted a video of the assault on social media and said that she was also one of the people who was arrested.
“I was arrested at the Gaza encampment at Washington University in St. Louis on Sat. My husband, a 65-year old full professor at S Illinois Univ Edwardsville, was brutally beaten by police,” she added.
In the video, Steve Tamari, wearing a yellow jacket, is seen filming the protest on his phone, while police are trying to disperse the demonstrators.
A man points Steve Tamari to a police officer, and the latter suddenly attacks the professor, in an effort to snatch his phone.
Several other officers also grab him and forcefully push him down to the ground, and then cuff his hands behind his back.
The officers then drag him to a police van and on the way, they again physically assault him. Two officers then drop him near the vehicle.
On Tuesday, the Resist Wash U activist group held a press conference during which a statement by Steve Tamari was read out, as he could physically attend since he was still hospitalised.
The statement said, “Over the last seven months, I’ve been in agony watching my people in Palestine be slaughtered with US bombs and funding. I joined the student-led protests on Saturday to stop the genocide and support and protect the students.”
He claimed that during the arrest, he was “body-slammed and crushed by the weight of several St. Louis County police officers and then dragged across campus by the police”.
“As a result of police brutality, I am now in the hospital with multiple broken ribs and a broken hand. My lungs could have been punctured and I could have died on the ground as they abused me.”
According to the Riverfront Times, a St. Louis-based news outlet, six faculty members have been barred from Washington University and placed on leave.
In a statement after the April 27 protest and arrests, the university said, “We are firmly committed to free expression and allow ample opportunity for voices to be heard on our campus”.
“However, we expect everyone to respect our policies and we will take swift action to enforce them to their fullest extent.”
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