Several students and other people were detained Thursday after protesting on the campus of CT State Community College Gateway in New Haven.
The incident was captured on a video obtained by Connecticut Public and shows people being detained on campus by New Haven police. They were protesting a visit by Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro. The event was also attended by the acting U.S. Secretary of Labor, Julie Su.
The protesters said they were rallying against Lamont and DeLauro for their support of weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin and the fact that it supplies armaments to the Israel Defense Forces in the war against Hamas. The fighting has led to the deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians. Lockheed Martin owns Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft, which supplies helicopters to the Israeli military.
Rosimar Quiñones Alberty, a student taking a journalism class at CT State Community College Gateway, said she’s facing serious consequences after the protest.
“What I hear, we’re banned from all of our colleges, which is really going to affect me, and my position right now,” Quiñones Alberty said.
Other protesters said they received documentation stating they were not allowed on campus unless they appealed.
But the students were not detained, suspended or banned from the facilities, according to Adam Joseph, Connecticut State Colleges and Universities vice chancellor for external affairs, in an email to Connecticut Public.
Quiñones Alberty said she planned to contact a college official regarding her situation.
The New Haven Police Department did not immediately respond to Connecticut Public’s request for comment. Lamont’s office was reached for comment but did not respond immediately.
Several journalists witnessed Quiñones Alberty being escorted by New Haven police into the campus’ Gender Equity Center, a small room located across the hall from Connecticut Public’s New Haven newsroom. She and several other people were detained for at least half an hour.
Quiñones Alberty said she is not going to stop her pro-Palestinian activism.
“We're not going to back down,” she said.
