Five anti-Israel activists stormed the financial aid and student accounts office at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and spray-painted graffiti inside the building on June 4.
According to pictures from KSBY, the southern central coast of California affiliate for NBC, the graffiti included “Free Palestine,” “CP divest” and “Let Gaza live” scrawled in red spray-paint. The graffiti was “on the walls, windows, furniture, computers and floors” of the building, reported KSBY.
Those inside the building at the time of the incident were allowed to leave, and all financial aid operations will be held virtually in the interim, a university spokesperson told KSBY. No one was injured.
The vandalism has been removed from the office, but it hasn’t yet been determined when it will be back open, the spokesman told KSBY.
“Those participating in violence and criminal activity which endangers others will be expelled (if they are students), arrested and held fully accountable,” wrote Jeffrey Armstrong, the president of Cal Poly, in a campus-wide email. “Anyone who views this kind of shortsighted, disgusting and illegal activity as acceptable has no place at Cal Poly and will be rooted out.”
Two people—identified as Theodore Lee, a student, and Alejandro Bupara, who is not affiliated with the university—have been arrested in connection with the vandalism, a university spokesperson told KSBY.
Joshua Burt, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Santa Barbara/Tri-Counties, stated that the ADL is aware of and monitoring the incident and has been in touch with Armstrong and law enforcement.
“It is our understanding that this attack was allegedly organized and carried out by a known off-campus organization with student members and a long history of spewing hate, including calling for the genocide of Jews,” Burt stated.
SLO Hillel Student president Ethan Furey told KSBY that “I do wish that they would have reached out to Jewish communities such as Hillel or the other groups on campus to feel how they felt before putting out a statement, but I do feel, I feel grateful that they did put out a statement at all.”
On May 7, Armstrong testified before Congress on the issue of campus antisemitism. According to the student newspaper Mustang News, he spoke for only eight minutes in a hearing that lasted more than three hours and mainly faced “yes” or “no” questions from congressional members.
“We have to do better at Cal Poly,” Armstrong said during the hearing. “The people who do not live up to our commitment to prohibit prejudice and bias, we hold them accountable. We do not tolerate threatening activity.”