Two protestors were arrested and a student injured during a police altercation at a pro-Palestine rally on Strand Campus on Wednesday.
Video captured by Roar shows a protestor being wrestled to the ground. The police also surrounded one protestor, subsequently arresting and leading them away.
Roar understands that the individuals arrested on Wednesday were not King’s students.
A student was also knocked to the ground and her foot trampled on by an officer during the altercation. Speaking in the aftermath of the incident, a protestor told Roar that a police officer “threw and injured my older sister for nothing but protesting for a free Palestine.”
A spokesperson for KCL Stands For Justice (S4J) said the protest:
‘…exposed once more KCL’s complete failure to safeguard its students and staff from security, police brutality and fascist organisations coordinated by known KCL students. We have plenty of footage to show excessive use of force and violence on peaceful student protestors and will pursue all avenues to ensure the students have justice and this kind of intimidation does not go unchecked.’
The arrests came at the end of a peaceful protest, a heavy police presence separating pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel counter-protestors outside Strand Building.
The protest also followed the termination of the pro-Palestine encampment at Strand Campus. It also followed an announcement that the KCL branch of the University and College Union (UCU) would hold a consultative ballot on strike action over the treatment of pro-Palestine staff and the question of academic freedom.
S4J organised Wednesday’s rally to protest “KCL’s complicity and the treatment of the encampment” protestors, as well as KCL’s hosting of the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) conference, which the group says “reflects KCL’s ease in hosting corporations and entities involved in perpetuating occupation and genocide.”
Roar has contacted King’s College London for comment, and will update this article if comment is received.
The Encampment Ends
Wednesday also saw the end of the Strand encampment, which was launched on May 12, exactly one year on from the encampment in 2024 which lasted 68 days.
This year’s encampment lasted seventeen days, during which protestors reported being denied access to campus buildings at nighttime and prevented from using the toilet. They also reported having their tents opened at night by security staff.
The encampment demanded that KCL divest from nine UN ‘blacklisted’ companies in which it had investments: AirBnB Inc.; Bank Hapoalim B.M.; Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M.; Booking Holdings Inc.; Expedia Group Inc.; Israel Discount Bank Ltd.; Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd.; Motorola Solutions Inc.; and Alstom S.A. S4J estimates KCL has investments of £295,704 in the nine companies.
In a statement on Instagram following the end of the encampment, S4J stated “We may have decamped but we have not deescalated [sic].”
In a statement to Roar a spokesperson for S4J said: “The encampment was a tactic, not the goal itself. It exposed how completely unwilling KCL management is to implement any changes in its approach to the ongoing genocide.”
Accusing KCL management of reneging on commitments regarding the rebuilding of Gaza’s higher education sector, they also said S4J would “continue with a range of tactics and avenues to achieve our goals with the whole cross-section of KCL students and staff.”
UCU
Earlier in the day, a general meeting of KCL UCU voted to hold a consultative ballot on industrial action if negotiations fail over what it describes as “the College’s failure to adequately safeguard the welfare, wellbeing and safety of staff, its mishandling of complaints procedures, and its failure to protect academic freedom.”
In a statement to Roar, KCL UCU demanded that KCL:
“Safeguard staff who have been targeted for their pro-Palestine positions by taking immediate steps adequate to the assessed levels of risk to their personal safety, including the use of the College’s disciplinary procedures to prevent any further harassment.
Issue a clear public statement reaffirming the College’s commitment to academic freedom, anti-racism, and the protection of its community from intimidation, harassment and discrimination.
Commission an independent investigation of the mishandling of the complaints procedure and the broader issues of harassment, intimidation and academic freedom.”
Roar understands UCU also intends to submit a paper to the KCL Finance Committee to seek an amendment to KCL’s Ethical Investment Policy and call for divestment from arms companies and companies involved in human rights abused or violation of international law. The Finance Committee, responsible for managing KCL’s endowment, will meet in July.
The move follows the passage of a members’ motion by KCL Student Union in March, which similarly called for divestment from arms companies and a review of investments in alignment with ESG standards “that reflect the College’s values and promote the welfare of its students.”
Roar has contacted King’s College London for comment, and will update this article if comment is received.
