PORTLAND, Ore. — Court documents stemming from the arrest of protesters on the Portland State University campus Thursday night allege that they kicked the university's chief of campus police during a struggle. Chief Willie Halliburton was hospitalized that night after "suffering a medical emergency," PSU said previously; Halliburton is still hospitalized and under medical supervision as of Saturday.
Seven people, including three PSU students, were arrested after Thursday's pro-Palestinian protest on campus. It began with a peaceful rally in the afternoon, but some demonstrators later moved to the Richard and Maurine Neuberger Center on campus, where PSU said that two people chained themselves to the building.
Officers from PSU Campus Public Safety and the Portland Police Bureau then arrived and started trying to break the chains, which is where court documents say a scuffle ensued.
In a probable cause affidavit for protester Sarah Netto, a campus police officer reported that some officers had formed a line to act as a barrier for other officers, who were working to break the chains. Netto, the officer said, kept trying to push through the line.
"Netto continued to fight with police until she was guided to the ground and placed in handcuffs," the affidavit claims. "(One campus police officer) reported learning that Netto had kicked Chief Halliburton in the leg."
Another officer fell over while trying to take Netto into the lobby of the building, the affidavit says.
While Netto did not identify herself to police, officers found her Oregon ID and reported that she is not a PSU student.
Another protester arrested was Sarah Amani, aka Sarah Dean. One campus officer said that Amani was leaning on her when the protester struck the officer in the face with her hand, breaking the officer's glasses. The officer reported that the strike left her with a headache "that lasted into the next day."
On-scene was Chief Halliburton, who ordered that Amani be arrested, the affidavit said. As other officers moved in to arrest her, Amani allegedly fought them — kicking Halliburton "near his stomach" during the struggle. Officers eventually took Amani into custody.
The university has not released any additional details surrounding what led to Halliburton's hospitalization, and it's unclear if it was related to Netto or Amani.
Portland police chief weighs in
In a statement released Friday, Portland Police Chief Bob Day said that Halliburton was "recovering from Thursday night's medical scare."
"I’ve appreciated his leadership through the recent protest events and value his collaboration and longstanding ties to PPB," Day said. "All of us at Portland Police sincerely wish him the best in his recovery."
According to Day, it was PPB officers who formed the line so that PSU campus police could focus on breaking the chains at the Richard and Maurine Neuberger Center. The crowd of protesters "became extraordinarily hostile" and tried to stop officers from taking people they'd arrested away, blocking the garage exit of the building.
"One officer was spit in the face, and at least 2 others were punched. Likely their protective gear kept them from being injured by the physical assaults," Day said. "Equally concerning, officers notified the group that a medical emergency was underway. But they refused to move, and officers had to forcibly push their way out to ensure that medical care could be brought in."
Day's statement went on to say that the people who engaged in criminal conduct could have caused life-threatening consequences for Halliburton.
Day pointed to the ACLU's list of protesters rights, which says that people “have the right to speak out on other public property, like plazas in front of government buildings, as long as you are not blocking access to the government building or interfering with other purposes the property was designed for."
"Civil disobedience, meaning violating the law as a means of protest, has a long, time-honored legacy in our country of bringing attention to injustice," Day said. "But civil disobedience means that the people engaged in it are accepting the legal consequences for their actions. They should never resist arrest, attempt to assault police, and others should never interfere with such arrests."
PSU makes commitments
In a joint statement aimed at diffusing campus tensions, PSU President Ann Cudd and Yousif Ibrahim, PSU student body president, listed agreements that Cudd had made in the interest of appeasing pro-Palestinian protesters, while decrying the violence and vandalism.
They began by saying that they were "heartbroken" over the loss of innocent lives in Israel and Gaza, and the ongoing suffering in Gaza.
"We join the calls by the President of the United States, as well as international organizations and leaders, for a ceasefire that will include an end to military operations, the release of all hostages, and humanitarian aid that reaches civilians affected by the violence in Gaza with the goal of achieving a lasting peace," they said.
PSU will host a Palestinian Scholar in the fall of 2025 and will establish scholarships to students impacted by the war in Gaza, they announced. Cudd also committed to support new curriculum on Islamophobia and anti-Jewish, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab rhetoric.
"We want to jointly acknowledge the passionate and impactful student activism that has taken place on PSU’s campus," they said. "We honor the tradition of student protest and its power to make positive change in the world, and we are proud of the PSU students who have engaged in non-violent activism and become a part of this important, living history.
"Through this challenging time, our campus community has also been impacted by extensive property destruction, hateful rhetoric, psychological harm, and violence. Rather than uplifting the powerful message of our student activists, we believe these actions diminish their voices. This has also made our campus a space of anxiety and fear for those who live, study and work on this campus. We jointly denounce this violence and the harm that it has caused."
Cudd and Ibrahim finished by saying that they would continue to work on the student body's proposal to end any financial relationship between PSU and Boeing, which pro-Palestinian students and faculty have demanded from the beginning of these protests due to the aerospace company's supplying of military hardware to Israel.
"We have made every effort to be transparent about PSU’s ties to Boeing: there are no direct investments and nothing to hide about the funding that we receive to support scholarships for minority STEM students," Cudd said on Friday.
PSU Vanguard, the university newspaper, reported that Boeing donated $150,000 to PSU to name a classroom and gives about $28,000 a year for scholarships.
A forum on Boeing ties is scheduled for June 5. Cudd said more details on that will be released.