Police remove student protesters from the University of Colorado Denver board of regents meeting
Denver, CO – On April 11, members of Denver Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied and held several disruptions outside the University of Colorado Denver board of regents meeting to further Denver SDS’s demands for the University of Colorado to divest from companies tied with Israel.
The board of regents had scheduled the meeting at 8 a.m. Some SDS members rallied outside of the building chanting “Shame on you, war profiteers! We don’t want your money here!” Several students went inside to disrupt the executive session. They were not allowed into the meeting and were escorted out of the building for chanting.
The students were told that they could return at 1 p.m. for public comment, so SDS members signed up. They were each only allowed two minutes to speak. During their time commenting, SDS member Geral Mueller said “CU Denver put out a statement after October 7 expressing that they were horrified by the Israeli deaths, but has said nothing since. Where is the same outrage for Osma Muhammad Saleiman Al-Astal, Ibtihal Hamid Al-Astal…” and continued to list Palestinians who have been martyred since October 7, 2023. Mueller was dragged out of the meeting by police officers for going over time, as they continued to read the names until they were thrown out of the building.
Another SDS member, Khalid Hamu said during their public comment “The University of Colorado is not neutral. They have taken the side of Israel: a side that is against the students.” Hamu continued reading the from list of martyrs, starting with the youngest member of each family. Hamu was also dragged out by two officers, followed by Autumn Bauman, and another SDS member who had already commented and then continued reading the names after Autumn was dragged out.