Friend,

News of my team and I being arrested at a Gaza solidarity encampment this weekend has spread like wildfire.

It wasn’t our intent to get arrested this weekend. We went to Washington University because the students invited us. I’m grateful that the flood of media attention has allowed us to center the suffering of the Palestinian people so that we can end this genocide and Israel’s illegal occupation.

I also want to express my profound gratitude for all of you. In addition to the outpouring of well-wishes and support, which I deeply appreciate, our campaign received a flood of new donations as soon as the news broke.

This support comes at an urgent time for our campaign. We have a critical fundraising gap of at least $25,000 that we need to close before midnight tomorrow.

If you haven’t had the chance to contribute – or if you have, and you can afford to give a bit more – you can donate here now.

If you missed the news over the weekend, you can read my original message below. Please forward this to your friends and family. We cannot let the world forget what is happening in Gaza. And we cannot stop until Palestine is free.

In solidarity and gratitude,

Jill

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Jill Stein <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Apr 28, 2024
Subject: I was arrested last night

NOTE: This message contains images and descriptions of police brutality. If you need to skip this email, please stop reading now. You can contribute to our campaign here to make sure every American voter has a pro-peace, anti-genocide pro-worker candidate on the ballot this November.

Dear Friend,

Last night didn’t end up the way I planned.

By now you’ve probably seen the headlines reading “Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein arrested at Pro-Palestine rally” (or some less flattering variations).

Here’s the full story.

First and foremost: My team and I are okay. Bruised and battered, and with some legal issues to resolve. But we are out. We are okay. And we are undeterred.

Yesterday, my team and I were invited by students at Washington University in St. Louis to visit their Gaza Solidarity encampment. We gladly accepted this invitation.

Once there, it was apparent that tensions were escalating quickly. The student organizers asked us to intercede with university officials to try and de-escalate the coming confrontation. Again, we gladly accepted this responsibility.

But authorities were having none of it. The scene was tense from the beginning, and it was clear that a crackdown was inevitable.

The students asked us to link arms and block access to their encampment by police. And we did.

We braced for impact, but nothing prepared me for what came next.

Pictured left to right: Jill Stein, Deputy CM Kelly Merrill-Cayer, St. Louis Board Alderman Alisha Sommier, St. Louis Board Alder President Megan Green, and Campaign Manager Jason Call.

A total of six police departments assembled on the scene. As they advanced on us, they used their bicycles as weapons against us.

One officer grabbed my arm, glared at me, and roughly pulled me towards him with a bicycle in between us. My campaign manager interceded, shouting at him that he was going to break my arm, until he let go.

We were then violently thrown to the ground, zip-cuffed, and placed under arrest.

In the hours that followed, I was separated from the remainder of my team. They were charged with trespassing, and I was charged with assault – despite the fact I was assaulted by police with a bicycle and then thrown to the ground.

We were arrested around 7:30pm local time and released around 1:30am. You can catch my interview with local news here.

Let us understand exactly what transpired here:

The students of Washington University have established an encampment to protest the school’s financial holdings in Boeing, which is producing some of the munitions being used against the people of Gaza just a few miles away in their St. Charles facility.

The students are exercising their constitutionally protected right to free expression to pressure their university to divest from death.

The university’s response is to violently assault and incarcerate anyone who dares speak out.

The students are in the right here, as they always are. I am proud to stand by their side as the ONLY pro-peace, anti-genocide, pro-worker candidate slated to be on the ballot across the country this November.

Today I am tired, I am bruised, I am battered – but I am undeterred in my resolve to stop Israel’s genocide and end their illegal occupation of Palestine.

This is not my first protest arrest, but it was unnervingly violent. What we are experiencing on university campuses across the nation right now is a pale shadow of what is to come if the twin parties of war and Wall Street are allowed to remain in power.

I urge you to contribute to our campaign today and make sure EVERY American has a pro-peace candidate on the ballot in November.

If you have the opportunity to join an encampment near you, I urge you to do so. The more community support these students have, the harder it will be for university authorities or police officials to justify their actions to crush this dissent.

In solidarity and gratitude,

Jill