Police arrested Green Party 2024 presidential candidate Jill Stein among other protesters at a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Washington University in St. Louis on Saturday.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein arrested during pro-Palestinian protest https://t.co/0kris2W761
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 29, 2024
Stein was arrested alongside her campaign manager Jason Call, and deputy campaign manager Kelly Merrill-Cayer.
Stein was reportedly charged with assault of a police officer while both Call and Merrill-Cayer were charged with criminal trespass.
Washington University revealed that over 80 protesters were arrested as it “quickly became clear through the words and actions of this group that they did not have good intentions on our campus and that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous.”
“When the group began to set up a camp in violation of university policy, we made the decision to tell everyone present that they needed to leave,” the school said in a statement, adding, “All will face charges of trespassing and some may also be charged with resisting arrest and assault, including for injuries to police officers.”
Stein reportedly spent six hours in police custody.
Later on Sunday, she said she might have suffered a rib fracture during her arrest and would be going to the emergency room to check it out. According to her, police officers knocked her to the ground and assaulted her during her arrest.
“Today I have really sore ribs, I’m going to the emergency room to see whether I have a rib fracture because they were using their bikes as a weapon. Basically ramming the handles of the bike into our chests and into my ribcage and trying to flip us over,” she told “NewsNation Prime.”
She denied the assault charges against her, saying that the opposite was the case.
“I wiggled out of that assault, and was told by the officer that I was assaulting him, which is absolutely ludicrous,” she stated.
Stein said she was participating in what she called a peaceful demonstration against U.S. policy in Gaza.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Call said, “The demand from the encampment was specifically for the university to divest from Boeing, which manufactures munitions used in the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza at their nearby St Charles facility.”
“The Stein campaign supports the demands of the students and their peaceful protest and assembly on campus. Student protest for peace and civil liberties has always represented the best part of our collective moral conscience. Solidarity,” he added.
