Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Seven Johns Hopkins University students were arrested when school officials called in the Baltimore City Police and Fire Departments to re-open doors to the administration building that had been the site of a monthlong sit-in.
Police were called to Garland Hall at 5:50 a.m. Wednesday, three weeks into the protest over the university’s plans to create a private university police force. The Maryland General Assembly approved of the plans shortly before adjournment.
Hopkins students were offered amnesty if they voluntarily came out of the building, where protesters chained doors shut, covered windows and forced the administration building to close, police said. Five students were forcibly removed and arrested. Two more were arrested when they allegedly laid down in front of a police vehicle to prevent the transportation of the previously arrested individuals, police said.
Officials said the new police force would not be subject to the Baltimore City Police Department.
In addition to demanding that the university abandon the idea of a privatized police force, students advocated against police brutality within the Baltimore City Police and called for cancellation of the school’s contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.