Minneapolis Mayor Vetoes City Council Resolution Supporting Pro-Palestine Student Protestors at the University of MN

Earlier this month, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed a resolution set forth by the City Council in support of pro-Palestine student protesters.

In October, 11 student protesters at the University of Minnesota took over Morrill Hall during a Palestine solidarity rally. The students symbolically renamed the space Halimy Hall after a young Palestinian content creator, Medo Halimy, who had recently died during an airstrike in Gaza.

Some of the hall’s interior windows were broken and security cameras were spray painted during the otherwise nonviolent demonstration.

As a result of the takeover, 11 students were arrested and suspended for varying amounts of time. They were all hit with $5,000 fines for destroying school property, some were evicted from campus housing, and one student is facing a fourth degree felony assault charge.

The resolution, which was introduced by Councilmember Robin Wonsley, passed 7-6 during a council meeting in early December.

The resolution proclaimed that the council would stand “in solidarity with nonviolent student activism for Palestinian human rights,” push “the University of Minnesota to work with campus advocates to accomplish their goals of divestment from the State of Israel,” and “rescind all academic charges, suspensions, and evictions of student protesters,” and encourage the city attorney to “consider dropping any charges against nonviolent protesters arrested at the University of Minnesota…”

However, Mayor Frey has since vetoed the resolution, stating that “what occurred on Oct. 21, at Morrill Hall… was neither peaceful nor protected speech.”

Frey continued, insisting that the “lack of consistency sets a dangerous precedent and sends a message that illegal and violent conduct is not only tolerated, but praised – as long as it conforms to the Council’s preferences.”

In order for the Council to override Frey’s veto, a supermajority (9-3) would need to vote in favor of reinstating the resolution.