Leadership at the University of Colorado Boulder asked campus police to shut down the planned screening of a Palestinian film hosted by two student groups earlier this month.
CU’s administration and police department said they did so because one of the groups, Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine, isn’t in good standing with the university and hadn’t properly reserved the auditorium for the screening. But a representative of the student group said they had been allowed to book the facility in advance.
The incident happened Sept. 5 after Students for Justice in Palestine and GUT-C, a student filmmaking group, organized a screening of a 2009 film “The Time That Remains,” which chronicles the lives of a Palestinian family after the 1948 Israeli occupation of their homeland.
As students were setting up for the film in the ATLAS Institute, two CU police officers showed up and stood outside the room, blocking people from entering, said Annabelle Brown, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine.
Brown said the officers informed students that there had been a problem with their room reservation and that they were not allowed to hold their event.
The university learned of the screening because the groups publicly advertised its time and location, said Sarah Barwacz, spokesperson for the CU Boulder Police Department.
“Events — regardless of how they are promoted — must complete an Event Management Form, particularly when they are held after hours, open to the public or involve the collection of funds or donations, as was the case here,” Barwacz wrote in an email to The Denver Post, saying the process is meant to “ensure compliance with applicable policy, including safety and security procedures.”
However, Brown showed The Post an email confirming the students’ reservation of an auditorium in the ATLAS building.
“The room was reserved ahead of time, and we had talked to the building proctor and they had approved it,” Brown said. “Nobody received any communications about any problems with the room booking beforehand. It’s kind of silly because it’s a movie screening. That’s a lot of energy to send the police to come and lock down a campus building and stand there for an entire three hours to personally let students in and out of a building so that a group can’t show a movie.”
A CU police report about the incident said several people in “executive leadership” at the university did not want to engage with the student groups before their movie screening and asked the police department to respond.
“The request was for us to go inform them that the space was not reserved through the proper channels and attempt to identify anyone that was there,” the police report stated.
CU spokesperson Nicole Mueksch confirmed that university leaders asked CU police to respond to the event because, she said, it was conducted in violation of university policy.
“All events, especially those held after hours and open to the public, must follow campus policy, which is critical to ensure campus and visitor safety,” Mueksch said in a statement. “In order for an organization to host or co-host a meeting on campus, they must be in good standing with the university.”
The Students for Justice in Palestine group is not in good standing with the university due to prior violations of campus policy, Barwacz said, so the co-sponsored event should not have been permitted. CU officials did not specify what policies the group had violated.
When asked whether campus police are usually sent to address issues with campus room reservations, Barwacz said the department’s priority is campus safety.
“CUPD can be utilized in various situations — including and not limited to — to secure locations, calls for assistance, when leadership is unavailable and, in this case, when regular attempts to work with student groups are met with further policy violations and disruption on campus,” Barwacz said. “We want to see all of our student groups thrive and have a voice on campus — we pride ourselves for being a leader in free speech, and we routinely host speakers of all viewpoints. We do, however, require all student groups to follow policies.”
Universities across Colorado and the U.S. have been flashpoints for conflict between students, protesters, police and campus officials over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Last week, experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel rejected what it called a “distorted and false” report.
In April, CU Boulder police investigated an incident in which pro-Palestinian protesters who disrupted a campus classroom were physically removed by two men, with video of the interaction showing students getting dragged out of the room. No criminal charges were filed.
“We are being targeted by the administration with these repression tactics, and it’s because of our political content,” Brown said.
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