A campus police officer shoved a pro-Palestine protester during a demonstration against companies attending a University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering career fair Tuesday afternoon.
In an Instagram video posted by student group Mecha de UW-Madison, a UWPD police officer pushes the protester to the ground during a confrontation in an entry hallway to the building.
“You are being violent. We were peacefully protesting, and you were being violent,” the protester said in a subsequent video.
Multiple protestors accused an officer, who The Daily Cardinal identified as Adam Boardman, of pushing the protester. The Daily Cardinal could not independently verify whether Boardman was the same officer who pushed the protester in the first video.
“You can’t come in,” Boardman said after the incident. “There are no flags and sticks allowed inside the building.”
Mecha alleged UWPD “assaulted” two additional protesters at Tuesday's career fair.
In a separate video posted by Mecha, a different protester is shown being brought into a police car.
UWPD officers cited one individual around 4:30 p.m. “following an attempt to disrupt the event and prevent students from meeting with recruiters,” UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas told the Cardinal via email. The individual was later released, per Lucas.
Lucas said the university responded to “multiple attempted disruptions” at the event.
The UW-Madison Dean of Students and UWPD posted fliers around the event outlining guidelines and rules for attendance. The fliers describe “preventing the entrance/exit to any event room” as a prohibited behavior.
Additionally, Lucas said yelling, amplified sound and other actions that limit participation are not allowed at UW-Madison career fairs.
Demonstrators protested against companies at the career fair who supply military arms to Israel, according to a post from the UW-Madison chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. Arms suppliers BAE, Caterpillar and General Dynamics, who were present at the event, have been protested worldwide for their support of Israel.
Lucas said the university is currently reviewing the incident.
This is a developing story. This story was last updated at 9:53 p.m.
Mary Bosch is the photo editor for The Daily Cardinal and a first year journalism student. She has covered multiple stories about university sustainability efforts, and has written for state and city news. Follow her on twitter: @Mary_Bosch6
Liam Beran is the former campus news editor for The Daily Cardinal and a third-year English major. He has written in-depth on higher-education issues and covered state news. He is a now a summer LGBTQ+ news fellow with The Nation. Follow him on Twitter at @liampberan.
