19 Protesters Arrested After Trying To Occupy UPenn Building: Police

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Nineteen pro-Palestinian protestors, including seven University of Pennsylvania students, were arrested Friday night after they tried to occupy a building on the college's Philadelphia campus, authorities said.

The attempted occupation came a week after city and campus police broke up a two-week encampment on the campus, arresting 33 people, nine of whom were students and two dozen of whom had “no Penn affiliation,” according to university officials.

Members of Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine announced the action Friday at the school’s Fisher-Bennett Hall, urging supporters to bring “flags, pots, pans, noise-makers, megaphones” and other items, the University of Pennsylvania Division of Public Safety said in a news release.

Officers closed in within the hour, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. University police supported by city authorities then escorted the protesters out and secured the building, news outlets reported.

Upon clearing the building, UPenn police found lock-picking tools and homemade metal shields fashioned from oil drums. The exit doors of Fisher-Bennett Hall had been secured with zip-ties, barbed wire, and barricaded with metal chairs and desks, police said. Bike racks and metal chairs were also found blocking outside entrances.

UPenn police said 12 people were issued citations for failure to disperse and failure to follow police commands and were later released. Seven remain in custody awaiting felony charges, including one for assaulting a police officer.

"Penn remains focused on maintaining the safety and security of our campus," authorities said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.