Pro-Palestinian protesters on Thursday afternoon spray-painted the ROTC Armory building at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and vandalized other buildings.
Thursday's protests come on the same day the Israeli military launched a new wave of attacks in Lebanon. Lebanon’s health ministry said Wednesday that at least 20 people were killed and 450 others wounded by exploding electronic devices in multiple regions of the country,
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Authorities said they are searching for someone they say assaulted someone during the protest during. Police said the assaulted happened around 1:17 p.m. in front of Carolina Hall.
Police provided a photo of the person, who was with the group of protesters.
Before 2 p.m., WRAL News received photos showing the ROTC Naval Armory building at 221 S. Columbia St. sprayed with words reading "Israel bombs USA pays" and the words "burn" and "riot."
Another student reported protesters interrupted her class at Mitchell Hall, located a half-mile from the ROTC building. Videos shared on social media showed protesters going building-to-building.
One student told WRAL News her Jewish studies class was interrupted by protests. Samuel Benaim, who was also in the class, said they couldn't even hear the speaker talk.
"We had a guest speaker at the time and the guy was fully interrupted. [He] couldn't talk to us," he said. "It was very intimidating."
Sky 5 flew overhead at 3 p.m., when students were cleaning paint off the ROTC building.
The group Students for Justice in Palestine (UNCSJP) claimed responsibility for the protest, releasing the following statement:
"The student movement is protesting UNC's refusal to divest from the apartheid regime and genocidal campaign being inflicted against the Palestinians by the Zionist regime ... until UNC ends its complicity in genocide, the student movement shall continue to organize and disrupt business as usual."
Salma Treish, who was with the protesters, said the group felt like they had to protest to get the university's attention. However, Treish said the graffiti wasn't a known part of the plan.
"Now, in terms of the graffiti, I don't think that was necessarily planned," Treish said.
UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts said in a statement the school "won't tolerate it," and will pursue every avenue possible to hold people accountable.
UNC released a statement reading:
"A group of approximately 150 people entered academic buildings and disrupted classes. While we do not believe there is an ongoing threat to personal safety, the group caused disruptions, vandalized a number of buildings and caused significant damage. Police continue to monitor campus and will conduct any necessary investigations."
In previous protests at UNC, protesters have voiced the concerns they have for the Palestinian people and the issues with UNC’s endowment investing in companies with Israeli connections. It’s unknown if UNC's $5.2 billion endowment invests in any companies associated with Israel.
UNC has been the site for multiple protests since the onset of the Israel–Hamas war. Most recently, in May, around 100 protesters gathered at the Peace and Justice Plaza just off campus. That protest was loud but remained peaceful.
A week before that, protests at UNC became violent, with police and protesters clashing near the quad. On April 30, 36 people were taken into custody at UNC, and an American flag at the quad was lowered and replaced with a Palestinian flag. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day.
Following the April 30 protests, a 12-foot-tall metal fence was installed around the flag at the quad.
Treish said the school needs to make an effort to listen to the students who are protesting.
"If the university was actually putting in the time to hear their students out, rather than just dismissing them and getting them arrested by cops, then we wouldn't be put in this position to begin with."