COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Thursday, as anti-war protests erupted on college campuses across the country, a group of University of Toledo students traveled to Columbus to add their voices to a protest that was taking place on the Ohio State University campus.
Omar Heif, the incoming president of "Students for Justice in Palestine" at UT, felt compelled to take part after months of conflict in Israel and Gaza have left thousands of people dead and a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas far from assured.
He says the group from Toledo was just one of many groups from around the state who took part in the protest.
Heif says the protest began peacefully but things changed later in the day when law enforcement moved in to disperse the crowd.
"And really we were met with a really brutal response from the police force", said Heif.
He was one of 36 people arrested at the protest.
Ohio State University spokesperson Ben Johnson told WTOL 11's sister station in Columbus in a statement that Ohio State rules prohibit camping and overnight events.
"Demonstrators exercised their first amendment rights for several hours and were then instructed to disperse. Individuals who refused to leave after multiple warnings were arrested and charged with criminal trespass," Johnson said.
Heif says the actions of police was unfortunate.
"It was really sad because it was a peaceful protest. We weren't doing anything that would warrant a response like that from the police," said Heif.
Heif was not alone, Vice President of UT's 'Students for Justice in Palestine' Hoda Elahinia was also arrested.
She describes her emotions as raw, especially as the chaos erupted.
"I was overwhelmed, I think, but also really, really proud of the people who were there because here was no standing down to the violence and brutality that we were facing," said Elahinia.
Ahmed Amrou is the former President of 'Students for Justice in Palestine'.
Though he was not arrested at the protest, he too is proud of their work and hopes it will make a difference.
"We want to educate people, because a lot of people don't even know what's going on over there. They don't know that this started 76 years ago and not on October 7th. And so education is a big part of what we try to do" said Amrou.
Heif says several protesters like himself were actually trying to protect people who were praying, when police started rushing in.
"I was protecting the people that were praying.
So I was seeing what was going on in real time. I wasn't focused on my prayer. So I could see them coming in, pushing in while they were praying, trying to rip people out, stuff like that," said Heif.
Heif and Elahinia say they spent the night in jail after their arrest but were released the next day.
Still, all three are unified in their beliefs and plan to keep fighting.
"I mean, individually, it was obviously very scary. But it was also really inspiring to see a group of people from so many different backgrounds coming together to just protect people who are praying," said Hoda Elahinia.
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