UC Security Injures Students Protesting “Armament” Investments

By Darcy Lawrey (he/him)

Protestors who rallied outside of UC vice chancellor Cheryl de la Rey’s office on the 1^st of the month left with bruises, concussions, and even a broken bone, according to Peace Action Ōtautahi (PAŌ). The group, alongside Students for Justice in Palestine, had organised a peaceful protest with a single demand, an opportunity to speak with the vice chancellor. However, their efforts were met with violence from the university’s security, who tried to forcibly keep students out of the office building which is normally open to students. 

Students had begun the protest at the library, before heading over to the staff building, where they found the entrance blocked by campus security guards. A video of the incident posted to the organiser’s Instagram shows a steady stream of protestors wearing keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags enter the building, as security guards tried to keep the foyer doors closed. 

As protestors made it inside, security began to psychically target the attendees, grabbing and throwing them to the ground or against the wall of the building. In the video a student can be seen shoved to the ground and held by the scruff of his jumper, while others are pulled from the doors. In what protestor Bruce Mcaulay describes as a “scare tactic”, UC staff, accompanied by police, eventually arrived at the protest telling the protestors that they would have to hand over their student ID cards or leave. 

The protest was sparked by a lack of communication from UC over their $330,040 investment in “armaments”, which is 0.23% of the university’s total investment portfolio. The investments were revealed in an internal report discovered by PAŌ through an Official Information Act request. 

The report notes that “armaments” does not necessarily refer to weapons manufacture, as the category of investments can include civil aerospace manufacturers. However, as PAŌ points out in a statement, the fourth largest weapons manufacturer, Boeing, is considered a civil aerospace manufacturer. PAŌ is demanding to know specifically which armament companies the fund is invested in. 

PAŌ is also concerned with the finding that $162,000 of UC funds are invested in companies with links to Israel. According to the report, the companies are in the cybersecurity and software industry, and are not necessarily Israeli owned, but trade in the country.

When Salient questioned UC on any plans to release details of the investments, we were stonewalled with a generic media statement that did not address transparency concerns. Similarly, UC did not respond to any questions on the behaviour of security staff at the protest and made the claim that the university “supports the right of students and staff to engage in lawful and peaceful protest”.

However, Jackson Duguid, a regular at PAŌ protests, has some optimism. He told Salient, “from what they've told us outwardly there is an effort and a commitment to making the change.” Jackson hopes for more transparency from the university on which companies are being invested in and expects more protests to come, “we've got commitment for change, let's make sure that we can keep this movement going and make sure it actually happens.”