Andi Johnson writes a letter to the editor emphasizing the important work of Penn student journalists.

Demonstrators remained at the intersection for around three hours and chanted at police officers, who maintained a large presence even after the police vans had left. 

Susan Sauvé Meyer writes a letter to the editor in response to Ann Farnsworth-Alvear and Zita Cristina Nunes’ recent guest column.

At 1 p.m., the American Association of University Professors held a press conference condemning the arrests of members of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and the suppression of "nonviolent anti-war protest."

DP photographers captured the arrests of dozens of protesters at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on College Green on Friday.

While several of Pennsylvania’s most high-profile politicians praised Penn’s move to disband the encampment, two politicians who represent Penn expressed deep concern about the University's conduct. 

Falleti wrote that she is “no longer confident of my ability to work collaboratively with our administration that has sent in the police to arrest its own students, staff, and faculty.”

Approximately 33 individuals were arrested at the encampment early Friday morning, a University spokesperson wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian. As of 9:05 a.m., all individuals had been released.

Around five Penn employees could be seen carrying out tents, signs, flags, backpacks, and other belongings from the encampment and loading them into a trash truck parked on Locust Walk. 

University administrators explained that they acted after the campus had been “under threat” for too long a period of tine.

The arrests came nearly two week after pro-Palestinian activists pitched approximately 40 tents on College Green.

The police response comes on the 16th day since the Gaza Solidarity Encampment began and the second day since it expanded.

“The University of Pennsylvania has an obligation to their safety,” he said. “It is past time for the university to act, to address this, to disband the encampment, and to restore order and safety on campus.”

A letter addressed to one of the disciplined individuals writes that their participation has contributed to “increasingly unsafe conditions” and “a situation that poses a threat to order and safety.”

Measures include airport-style security, a no-bag policy, and PennCard checks for all graduates to enter the field. 

The main entrance to Van Pelt Library is closed to everyone — including Penn students — as of 8:04 p.m. Penn Hillel is also currently on lockdown, according to a source familiar with the matter. 

At around 7:30 p.m., members began moving barriers and at least eight tents onto the east side of College Green as a crowd of 200 people chanted “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”