{
  "id": "2024-04-25-indiana-university-bloomington-protest",
  "slug": "indiana-university-bloomington-protest-2024-04-25",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Indiana University Bloomington",
    "shortName": "IU",
    "state": "IN",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "IU Notify",
    "enrollment": 47005
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-04-25",
    "endDate": "2024-04-27",
    "type": "civil-unrest",
    "cleryCategory": "advisory",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Encampment on Dunn Meadow cleared; 56 arrested over two days",
    "headlinePublic": "Encampment on Dunn Meadow cleared; 56 arrested over two days",
    "summary": "On April 25, 2024, Indiana University Bloomington police [arrested 34 people at a pro-Palestinian encampment on Dunn Meadow](https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/scenes-day-five-gaza-encampment-indiana-university-protests-on-campus-pro-palestinian) after the university changed its temporary structures policy the day before. A [second wave of 23 arrests followed on April 27](https://www.npr.org/2024/08/28/nx-s1-5090241/students-and-faculty-protest-indiana-universitys-new-rules-on-campus-demonstrations) by state police, including the encampment's leaders. The ACLU of Indiana subsequently filed a lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations.",
    "outcome": "Fifty-six people were arrested across two days, including four faculty members and 37 students. All arrested individuals were banned from campus for one year, with one leader banned for five years. The local prosecutor declined to file charges against all but one student who was charged with felony battery for biting a state trooper. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of three plaintiffs.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "Sunday evening April 28, 2024, presidential community message issued the day after the second round of arrests",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Dear Members of the IUB Community,\n\nOver the last several days, our campus community has faced considerable challenges and wrestled with complex questions. Put simply, the events of recent days have been difficult, disturbing and emotional.\n\nAgainst that backdrop, we write today to provide you with an enhanced understanding of the university's actions and to outline the beginning of what we believe can be a path forward.\n\nFirst, our campus—like so many others—has experienced the escalation of a national movement on numerous college campuses to erect encampments and occupy universities indefinitely. Such un-regulated encampments raise concerns for us as stewards of the campus because they tax limited public safety resources and become magnets for those making threats of violence or who may not have the best interest of Indiana University in mind. Additionally, this movement also coincides with a troubling rise in antisemitism nationally and on college campuses. Specifically, antisemitic episodes have been linked to this national encampment campaign. It was in this unique context that we appointed the ad hoc committee and charged them to modernize our protocols for the presence of overnight structures in Dunn Meadow to address this contemporary issue.\n\nSecond, at the same time, our commitment to free speech is—and must continue to be—unwavering. Everyone has the right to peacefully rally or protest on our campus, and we will do our best to ensure that everyone can exercise these rights in a safe environment. Free speech on our campus will never be impeded. There have been no changes to the opportunities and rights for free expression on campus.\n\nThird, in our decision to engage the IU Police Department and the Indiana State Police, we aimed to balance each of these concerns: legitimate safety concerns related to un-regulated encampments and our commitment to free speech. After standing down for 24 hours, we sought to give the protestors the opportunity to comply with policy, particularly the 1969 prohibition of tents after 11 p.m. They chose to expand the encampment after 11 p.m. Therefore, on Saturday we again made the decision to enforce university policy and remove tents and other temporary structures. The Indiana State Police provided the additional manpower needed to address heightened levels of potential threats.\n\nThis was not a decision we made lightly. Protestors were encouraged before and during the process of dismantling the tents to step aside to avoid arrest, and most did. They were also encouraged to remain in Dunn Meadow after the dismantling of the encampments to continue their protest, which most did.\n\nImportantly, we encourage those members of our community detained for trespass to engage in the appeals process by contacting the IUPD. In nearly all cases, trespass ban orders preventing students or faculty from visiting campus will be halted during the appeals process. This will allow these students and faculty to complete the semester.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://bloomingtonian.com/2024/04/28/whitten-and-shrivastav-statement-an-update-for-the-iu-bloomington-community/",
      "sourceDescription": "An update for the IU Bloomington community (signed President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav, reproduced verbatim by The Bloomingtonian)",
      "annotations": [
        "President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav co-signed and emailed this statement to the IUB community on Sunday evening April 28, 2024, one day after the second wave of state-police arrests on Dunn Meadow",
        "This was the first signed statement on the protests by Whitten and Shrivastav, and IDS reporting noted that student leaders denounced the framing of the encampment as an 'un-regulated' security threat",
        "Faculty across multiple departments held no-confidence votes in Whitten in the weeks following this statement; an independent July 2024 review found the policy change had been mishandled",
        "DEEP AUDIT correct 2026-08-02: bloomingtonian.com live 403; wayback 20240526 posts full Whitten/Shrivastav statement. Archive is heavily paraphrased/truncated ('We have witnessed the escalation...' / invented closing 'We hope we can come together...') not matching official wording. Correct to wayback-quoted official statement body.",
        "B48 first-message queue 2026-08-16: first preserved message is type follow-up (not 'initial'); no earlier official initial located on cited source at re-check. Record starts here; type left unchanged."
      ],
      "characterCount": 3004,
      "lastUpdated": "2026-08-02"
    }
  ],
  "context": "On April 24, 2024, Indiana University Bloomington [changed its policy on temporary structures in Dunn Meadow](https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/student-advocacy-groups-condemn-encampment-arrests-policy-change), a traditional free speech area on campus, to require prior approval. The very next day, the IU Divestment Coalition set up a [Gaza solidarity encampment](https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/scenes-day-five-gaza-encampment-indiana-university-protests-on-campus-pro-palestinian) on Dunn Meadow. IUPD moved to clear the encampment, arresting 34 people including 23 students and three faculty members. On April 27, [Indiana State Police detained 23 more people](https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/politicians-respond-dunn-meadow-encampment-clearing-arrests-protest) including encampment leaders and additional faculty. All 56 arrested individuals were banned from campus for one year, with protest leader Bryce Greene banned for five years. The local prosecutor [declined to file charges](https://www.npr.org/2024/08/28/nx-s1-5090241/students-and-faculty-protest-indiana-universitys-new-rules-on-campus-demonstrations) against all but one student charged with felony battery for biting a state trooper. The [ACLU of Indiana filed a federal lawsuit](https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/live-updates-scenes-from-the-fourth-day-of-gaza-protest-encampment-on-iu-campus) on May 3, alleging the university violated protesters' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Separately, on the morning of April 25, an unrelated IU Bloomington suspicious-device scare near 4th Street and Indiana Avenue was cleared as harmless; it is documented as its own case in this archive.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "IU's decision to change its temporary structures policy the day before the planned encampment was widely criticized as a preemptive move to justify arrests",
    "Faculty arrests were particularly notable, with four professors detained across two days of enforcement",
    "The one-year campus bans for all arrested individuals effectively ended the encampment without requiring ongoing enforcement"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "LIVE UPDATES: Scenes from day five of Gaza encampment, protests on campus (Indiana Daily Student)",
      "url": "https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/scenes-day-five-gaza-encampment-indiana-university-protests-on-campus-pro-palestinian",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Politicians respond to Dunn Meadow encampment clearing, arrests (Indiana Daily Student)",
      "url": "https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/politicians-respond-dunn-meadow-encampment-clearing-arrests-protest",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Students and faculty protest Indiana University's new rules on campus demonstrations (NPR)",
      "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/08/28/nx-s1-5090241/students-and-faculty-protest-indiana-universitys-new-rules-on-campus-demonstrations",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Indiana University Bloomington protest arrests (Scholars at Risk)",
      "url": "https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/report/2024-04-25-indiana-university-bloomington/",
      "type": "other"
    },
    {
      "title": "Indiana University shares findings of independent Dunn Meadow review (IU News)",
      "url": "https://news.iu.edu/live/news/37242-indiana-university-shares-findings-of-independent",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "An update for the IU Bloomington community (signed President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav, reproduced ver",
      "url": "https://bloomingtonian.com/2024/04/28/whitten-and-shrivastav-statement-an-update-for-the-iu-bloomington-community/",
      "type": "other"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "civil-unrest",
    "protest",
    "pro-palestinian",
    "encampment",
    "mass-arrest",
    "faculty-arrested",
    "policy-change",
    "indiana",
    "public-university",
    "aclu-lawsuit"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-08-02",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}