Editor’s note: This letter remains in the condition in which it was sent.
Two weeks ago, a group of UB war protestors held a peaceful sit-in near Hochstetter Hall. After they obeyed police orders to dismantle an encampment, they were completely in accordance with UB protest polices. UB President Satish K. Tripathi could have taken a two-minute walk down from his office to talk with them. That would have been the decent, professorial thing to do.
Instead, at 8:24 PM, he sent in a large heavily-armed force of UB Police and deputized officers from five local police departments. The ensuing assaults are staggering to see.
Perhaps the most horrifying is an assault by three large officers on one Muslim woman student, available on the Instagram page of wnymuslim. It has been collected in a UB Spectrum video, “A timeline of UB's pro-Palestine protests and police backlash.” (8:48-9:28). When she cries out in fear that a fellow protestor has suffered a head injury, three police officers flip her over on her face, sit on her, and cuff her. One says, “Cuff her! You wanna keep talking your shit? Here. Here’s your fucking shit.” As she cries in terror at being manhandled, the officers apparently rip off her hijab. Yesterday, at a UB Faculty Senate meeting, one attendee rightly noted that, for a covered Muslim woman, this is equivalent to ripping off her blouse. By a 2-1 vote, the Senate condemned the heavily militarized response to a peaceful protest and demanded an investigation and report to the University.
So far, President Tripathi has not seen fit even to mention this assault, much less apologize for it. The UB community needs to think hard about the precedent he has set. If he is still at UB next fall, we can only assume that he has reserved the right to order similar assaults on similar lawful student protests. In the name of decency, free speech, and campus safety, it is time for President Tripathi to resign.
Jim Holstun
Professor of English
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
