Two student journalists were among the nearly 90 people arrested at a pro-Palestinian rally on Dartmouth College’s campus Wednesday night.
Charlotte Hampton and Alesandra Gonzales were taken into custody while reporting for The Dartmouth, a student newspaper independent of the college. The paper’s editorial board has called for the college to drop the charges against Hampton and Gonzales.
In a statement provided to The Dartmouth Friday morning, a spokesperson called the student journalists “respected members of our community” but did not indicate any plans to drop charges.
“We understand The Dartmouth staff members who were taken into custody believe that occurred in error,” senior vice president for communications Justin Anderson said. “We stand behind their right to vindicate that belief through the legal process.”
Hampton and Gonzales joined NHPR’s All Things Considered host Julia Furukawa to talk about their arrests and the college’s response.
Transcript
What happened Wednesday night as you were covering the rally? What were the events leading up to the police response?
Charlotte Hampton: So this was an initially a Labor for Liberation rally that was part of the graduate student group’s organizing, and also organized by a bunch of pro-Palestinian groups on campus. It escalated into an encampment being set up by pro-Palestinian groups on Dartmouth's campus. Hundreds of students formed a circle around the encampment, and that's when police officers in riot gear were called in. The Dartmouth groups were warned that they were in violation of college policy multiple times by the Department of Safety and Security at Dartmouth but chose to stay.
The two of you were present there as journalists with The Dartmouth. Alessandro, I'll turn to you. What happened during your arrest? How did the police approach you?
Alesandra Gonzales: I was filming the arrest of a history professor who had gotten arrested maybe about two to three minutes before I did. I was kind of in a position that was lower to the ground because she was on the ground as they were handcuffing her. And once I stood up from recording and photographing her arrest, I was just pulled out of this group of journalists and other media personnel, by riot squad members. And then I was taken to behind the riot squad line and arrested by a Lebanon Police Department officer.
What about you, Charlotte? What happened during your arrest?
Charlotte Hampton: So we were on the green. The authorities had warned that people on the green would be arrested. But we were with a group of other members of the press corps. We were with a member of the Dartmouth communications office who said that we were OK to be on the green, and we were standing there covering a history professor here, Annelise Orleck, being sort of pinned to the ground and put in zip ties, and that was very frightening. So we were both looking at that. And as Dre stood up from recording it, they grabbed her. And then she called out to me and I said, ‘Don't take her, she's a reporter,’ or something along those lines. And then that's when they also took me.
A spokesperson from the college released a statement today that indicated they will not be dropping their charges. Have you heard from administrators or campus officials directly following your arrest?
Alesandra Gonzales: We haven't been spoken to directly as individuals.
Charlotte Hampton: Not personally, yeah.
Alesandra Gonzales: They've just been communicating with The Dartmouth editorial board members.
Charlotte Hampton: As far as we know.
Alesandra Gonzales: Yeah, as to our knowledge.
Charlotte Hampton: I had my undergraduate dean email me and asked if I needed help getting out of any coursework.
Alesandra Gonzales: Mine as well.
What do you and your colleagues at The Dartmouth hope to hear from President Beilock and her administration?
Alesandra Gonzales: I think that the ideal situation as of now would be to have our charges dropped. I'm not sure what that looks like going forward or what's the logistical measures that surrounds that, but I think that is the outcome that everyone is hoping for as of now.
Charlotte Hampton: I'm kind of surprised that no one from the college has tried to speak with either of us directly. You know, I am surprised that they haven't come out yet and said that they're going to make an effort to get our charges dropped. And yeah, definitely a feeling of personal alienation from the campus today. Like part of our bail conditions is that we can't walk across the campus quad.
