University of Toronto Protesters Ordered to Leave Pro-Palestinian Encampment or Face Arrest

After the deadline, the judge authorized Toronto police to arrest anyone who refuses to leave the campus.

The university had sought an injunction to remove approximately 200 tents and protesters.

The court also granted the university permission to use police to clear the encampment.

The protesters, who began occupying King’s College Circle in downtown Toronto on May 2, remained defiant in the face of the court order.

U of T Occupy for Palestine, the organizers of the encampment, stated in a post on X that the court had given the university the “immoral right to unleash police violence” on students.

“The university's shameful attempt to use legal force to brutalize its own students — for the crime of protesting genocide — will go down in history as a disgraceful chapter for this institution,” the post read.

University lawyers argued in court that the protest violated school policies, made members of the university community feel unsafe, and infringed on the rights of free speech of others, according to CBC News.

The court found that the protesters had prevented others from using the campus for 50 days, causing “irreparable harm.”

“In my view, the harm to the university is greater if the injunction is not granted than is the harm to the respondents if the injunction is granted,” the judge stated.

The protesters demanded that the university cut ties with Israel, stop dealing with companies that profit from Israel’s war in Gaza, and sever relations with any of Israel’s academic institutions complicit in the war.