Campus Alert Archive
Emory

Police cleared a protest encampment from the Quad; 28 arrested, including faculty

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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
2
Response
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Killed
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Injured
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Institution
Emory University
Private R1 · GA
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~16,000 studentsRAVE Emergency Alert (Emory CEPAR)
Official alert policy
Read when and how Emory says it will use Emory Emergency Notification: summarized, quoted, and analyzed.
Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

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INITIAL ALERTPush
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FOLLOW-UPEmail
Verified verbatim822 chars
It is clear to us now that this information was not fully accurate, and I apologize for that mischaracterization. My goal was to remove a growing encampment, as allowing such an encampment would have been highly disruptive, affecting everything from classes and exams to our ability to hold Commencement. I remain firm that such encampments cannot be permitted at Emory. Let me be clear: 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. This review will include how Emory engages external law enforcement agencies.
Verify this quote
President Gregory L. Fenves's April 29, 2024 apology letter to the Emory community, as reproduced and reported by Decaturish, AJC, and Fox 5 Atlantadecaturish.comfind archived copies
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
DEEP AUDIT correct 2026-08-02: decaturish.com live posts Fenves full letter. Archive splices non-contiguous sentences (jumps from 'mischaracterization' to 'I am devastated', dropping 'My goal was...' and 'Let me be clear:'). Correct to contiguous letter body covering the apology/review passages.
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 EDT after observing masked individuals setting up tents and removing barricades. At 9:17 AM EDT, 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 EDT 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 EDT on April 25, 2024, 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

Every claim on this page is meant to be checkable. Open the links below (and the Verify this quote control under each confirmed alert) to read the original university, news, or archive page yourself. Hostnames are shown so you can see where you are going; archived copies survive when live pages move or disappear. See also our methodology.

  1. Student Paper
    Reports detail police narrative from April 25 protests (Emory Wheel)
    emorywheel.com
    archived copy
  2. Official
    This Morning's Events (Emory Office of the President)
    president.emory.edu
    archived copy
  3. Official
    DPS Responds to Emory University (Georgia Department of Public Safety)
    dps.georgia.gov
    archived copy
  4. News
    Pro-Palestine protesters forcibly removed from Emory campus (Fox 5 Atlanta)
    fox5atlanta.com
    archived copy
  5. News
    Violent Arrest of Emory Professor Spotlights Brutality (Common Dreams)
    commondreams.org
    archived copy
  6. News
    DPS says they used a Taser, pepper balls at Emory, but not tear gas (ABC News)
    abcnews.go.com
    archived copy
  7. Source
    President Gregory L. Fenves's April 29, 2024 apology letter to the Emory community, as reproduced and reported by Decatu
    decaturish.com
    archived copy
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Emory University: Police cleared a protest encampment from the Quad; 28 arrested, including faculty." Incident of April 25, 2024. Added April 2026; last updated August 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/emory-university-civil-unrest-2024-04-25/

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Tags
civil-unrestprotesttear-gasarrestsfaculty-arrestedgeorgiapro-palestinianencampmentpolice-response
Added April 2026Updated August 2026Via ingestion