Green Party’s Jill Stein Arrested During University Protest

(ProsperNews.net) – Police arrested Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein at Washington University in St. Louis amid nationwide anti-Israel protests. Stein’s campaign manager, Jason Call, confirmed that his deputy Kelly Merill-Cayer was also detained when they joined calls for the university to divest from aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which produces munitions for the Israeli Defense Force. Call described the war between the Jewish state and Hamas as a “genocide against the Palestinian people.”

The group was among more than 100 people apprehended, and Ms. Stein later took to Twitter to urge police to protect students’ constitutional right to protest. She said university demonstrations represent “the best part of our collective moral conscience.”

The anti-Israel actions began at New York’s Columbia University, where students established encampments and occupied halls. A statement from Washington University said demonstrators were given ample opportunity to leave the campus before police were called. The statement furthermore claimed that protestors will now face criminal charges, including trespass and causing injury to law enforcement officers.

St. Louis police confirmed that Stein and her staff were released from St. Louis County Jail hours after their arrest.

The 73-year-old Presidential candidate was reportedly present when the US flag was removed from the Missouri campus and replaced with a Palestinian banner. Congresswoman Cori Bush tweeted her support for the protests and was taken to task by the Stop Antisemitism campaign group, which accused her of backing jihadism. The group noted the unfurling of an ISIS flag at the St. Louis campus and wrote, “This is who radical Congresswoman Cori Bush supports.”

Ms. Stein attracted widespread condemnation when she appeared to suggest that Jews have a homeland in Poland. During a verbal altercation with a pro-Israel demonstrator who told Stein that Jews have no homeland except Israel, Stein appeared to reply, “The Jews have Poland.” Critics noted that millions of Jews were murdered during the Holocaust in Poland and denounced Stein’s remarks. Her supporters, however, insist she used the word “homeland,” not “Poland.”