Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protestors hold walkout, spray paint University buildings

At least 200 students and staff participated in a pro-Palestinian walkout on Thursday, led by UNC Students for Justice in Palestine.

The 'Walk out for the West Bank' began at 12:40 p.m., and protesters began walking in and out of various UNC buildings starting at 12:52 p.m.

Demonstrators hung papers outlining their demands throughout buildings, spray painting messages like "Free Gaza," "Fuck UNC" and "Israel is a terror state" on the walls of Carroll Hall and other buildings as they walked.  

There were several speeches demanding that the University reject Israel and the brutalization of students. Protesters chanted phrases like "disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest," as they walked through Halls including Gardner, Murphey, Carolina, Hanes, Carroll, Chapman, Phillips, Peabody and Sitterson.

They also walked outside of the UNC NROTC Naval Armory, vandalizing the outside of the building with spray paint and draping a Palestinian flag from the gun turret. The American flag that waves outside of the building was also taken down by protesters around 1:48 p.m. 

UNC Police arrived at Carroll Hall around 1:30 p.m., and the American flag was put back in place by 2:24 p.m. Police were already present on campus due to the emergency preparedness event happening around the same time. 

UNC Media Relations said they have not seen or heard about anyone being detained. In an Alert Carolina email sent out to the University community at 4:01 p.m., students, faculty and staff were asked to contact UNC police if they had any information about the incident. 

In a statement from Media Relations, Chancellor Lee Roberts said that he expects everyone who comes to campus "to show respect and care for this historic place."

“Free expression and peaceful protest are, of course, in line with Carolina’s best traditions. We cannot tolerate, however, vandalism of public property or disruption of classes. We’ll pursue every avenue possible to hold people accountable," Roberts said.

Some SJP members got into a physical altercation with counter protesters who were also present at the event. One SJP member said that their phone was taken by a counter protester, and thrown into the street. 

"We demand Chapel Hill, and all universities across the U.S. to cut any and all ties with Israel," one student said during a speech before the crowd dispersed around 1:57 p.m. 

One member of SJP said walking through buildings was planned — the point was to cause disruption and be loud — but spray painting inside of buildings was unplanned. 

"Discussions are currently taking place to debrief the unexpected autonomous actions that took place today." the SJP member said in a follow up statement to The DTH.

SJP's demands include UNC boycotting corporations and programs supporting Israel, including study abroad programs, and for the University to disclose and divest. 

Assistant University Editor Daneen Khan and University senior writer Akash Bhowmik contributed to reporting of this article. 

This is a developing story. Check back here for updates.