Campus Alert Archive
Emory

Pepper Balls on the Quad: Emory Police Clear Pro-Palestinian Encampment as Economics Professor Is Arrested

GAcivil unrestadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On April 25, 2024, Emory University police, Atlanta Police, and Georgia State Patrol cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment from the university Quad, arresting 28 people including faculty members. The Emory Emergency Notification System issued an alert at approximately 9:23 AM EDT advising the community to avoid the Quad area. Georgia State Patrol acknowledged deploying pepper balls and a Taser, although witnesses and protesters described the chemical irritants as tear gas; DPS publicly denied using tear gas.

Alerts
4
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Emory University
Private R1 · GA
~16,000 studentsRAVE Emergency Alert (Emory CEPAR)
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

4 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTPush
Approximate reconstruction136 chars
EMORY ALERT: Please keep clear of the Quad area on the Atlanta campus. Police activity is underway. Avoid the area until further notice.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from Emory Wheel reporting and EPD supplemental case reports; the alert was issued at approximately 9:23 AM EDT
A groundskeeper had called EPD around 7:42 AM reporting masked individuals setting up tents on the Quad
The Deputy Chief gave a 10-minute verbal warning to disperse at approximately 9:17 AM before the alert was sent
ALL CLEARPush
Approximate reconstruction144 chars
EMORY ALERT UPDATE: The Quad area on the Atlanta campus has been cleared. Normal campus operations have resumed. Thank you for your cooperation.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from Emory official communications; exact timing of the all-clear is not confirmed
By this point, 28 people had been arrested and the encampment had been fully dismantled
The university later issued a statement from the president's office defending the decision to clear the encampment
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Verified verbatimEmory University official news release: Message from Emory VP for Public Safety Cheryl Elliott (April 25, 2024)516 chars
Early this morning, several dozen protestors entered the Atlanta campus and set up an encampment on the Quad. These individuals are largely not affiliated with Emory and were disrupting the university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals. The Emory Police Department notified these individuals that they were trespassing. When they refused to leave, law enforcement cleared the Quad. The primary goal was clearing the Quad of a disruptive encampment while holding individuals accountable to the law.
Verbatim text from Emory's official news release published the day of the encampment clearance, signed by VP for Public Safety Cheryl Elliott
The 'largely not affiliated with Emory' framing was the institutional justification for the police clearance and was later acknowledged by Elliott herself as 'not fully accurate' after Emory determined many arrestees were faculty, students, and staff
This statement was issued in lieu of a comprehensive Emory Emergency Notification System push — the avoid-the-Quad alert was sent at 9:23 AM EDT separately
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Verified verbatimPresident Gregory L. Fenves's April 29, 2024 apology letter to the Emory community, as reproduced and reported by Decaturish, AJC, and Fox 5 Atlanta469 chars
It is clear to us now that this information was not fully accurate, and I apologize for that mischaracterization. I am devastated that members of our community were caught up in law enforcement activity enforcing the removal of the encampment. The videos of these interactions are deeply distressing. I take Thursday's events very seriously and we are launching a thorough review of them so that we can develop recommendations to improve how we keep our community safe.
Fenves issued this letter on April 29, 2024 — four days after the April 25 Quad clearance — explicitly retracting the 'largely not affiliated with Emory' framing used in the original Elliott statement
By the time Fenves wrote this, Emory had publicly confirmed that 20 of the 28 arrested were members of the Emory community (faculty, students, and staff)
This apology became one of very few first-person presidential reversals issued by a university leader during the spring 2024 encampment wave
Context

Background

In the early morning hours of April 25, 2024, several dozen protesters set up an encampment on Emory University's Quad in solidarity with Palestinians and in opposition to the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. A groundskeeper called Emory Police at approximately 7:42 AM after observing masked individuals setting up tents and removing barricades. At 9:17 AM, the Deputy Chief gave verbal commands for the group to disperse within 10 minutes. The Emory Emergency Notification System issued an alert at 9:23 AM advising the community to avoid the Quad. What followed was a forceful police response involving Emory PD, Atlanta Police, and Georgia State Patrol. Georgia DPS acknowledged deploying pepper balls and at least one Taser but publicly denied using tear gas; witnesses and protesters disputed that account, describing the chemical irritant clouds as tear gas. Twenty-eight people were arrested, including economics professor Caroline Fohlin, whose forceful arrest was captured on video and widely covered by national media. The incident became one of the most prominent examples of police force used against campus Gaza solidarity protests in spring 2024.
Analysis

Key Findings

The emergency alert was issued at 9:23 AM, approximately six minutes after the verbal dispersal order, giving little transition time
28 people were arrested including faculty members, making it one of the more forceful campus protest clearances of spring 2024
Georgia State Patrol officially acknowledged deploying pepper balls and a Taser but publicly denied using tear gas; witnesses and protesters disputed that account, and the dispute over what was deployed drew significant national media attention
Outcome
28 individuals were arrested, including 20 Emory community members and several faculty. Economics professor Caroline Fohlin was pushed to the ground and restrained by officers in a widely circulated video. Charges were filed but many were later reduced or dropped.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Reports detail police narrative from April 25 protests (Emory Wheel)
    emorywheel.com
  2. Official
    This Morning's Events (Emory Office of the President)
    president.emory.edu
  3. Official
    DPS Responds to Emory University (Georgia Department of Public Safety)
    dps.georgia.gov
  4. News
    Pro-Palestine protesters forcibly removed from Emory campus (Fox 5 Atlanta)
    fox5atlanta.com
  5. News
    Violent Arrest of Emory Professor Spotlights Brutality (Common Dreams)
    commondreams.org
  6. News
    DPS says they used a Taser, pepper balls at Emory, but not tear gas (ABC News)
    abcnews.go.com
Tags
civil-unrestprotesttear-gasarrestsfaculty-arrestedgeorgiapro-palestinianencampmentpolice-response
Added April 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion