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Charlie Hermes, a UTA lecturer in philosophy, was arrested for criminal trespassing on May 2, 2024. Hermes is pictured holding a Palestinian flag in a student walkout on UTA’s campus on April 24, 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)
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On soggy ground on a hot and humid day, around 15 University of Texas at Arlington students were undeterred. It was day two of their around-the-clock protest against the Israeli war in Gaza. On Thursday, the day before, a UTA faculty member was arrested.

“In our minds, because of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has claimed over 30,000 Palestinian lives as of now, and very likely far more, we believe that it is our duty to be out here (to) both show solidarity with the Palestinian resistance, as well as to demand divestment,” said Michael Anderson, a sophomore psychology student who serves as president of the UTA Progressive Student Union. 

At 6 in the morning Thursday, the students began to camp out on tarps and under painted umbrellas on the campus lawn in front of the library. The lawn protest was organized by the Progressive Student Union. Mass arrests had already happened at the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas at Austin. UTA students did not set up tents because the students were complying with the Prohibition of Camping on University Property, a new UTA policy that was approved or amended the week before.

Pro-Palestinian protesters at UTA assemble on a campus lawn on May 3, 2024, in an around-the-clock protest, demanding the university’s divestment from military contractors. (Shomial Ahmad | Fort Worth Report) 

In the late afternoon Thursday, UTA philosophy lecturer Charlie Hermes was arrested by UTA police and booked in the Arlington city jail for one count of criminal trespassing. He was released on Friday, according to the Arlington Police Department. 

“I just got done talking to a captain at the UTA Police Department who confirmed that my trespassing warrant prohibits me from returning to campus indefinitely,” wrote Hermes in a Facebook post on Friday morning. “I’ll admit, I don’t know what’s next … and I’m scared.

But, I am not alone.” 

Hermes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Lesly Torres Guerrero, who was at the site at the time of the arrest, said Hermes brought a canopy and a tent to the lawn protest. About 40 protesters were there, Guerrero said. Once Hermes pitched his tent, officers approached, and he was soon arrested. About half the protesters followed Hermes to the police car to support him, according to Guerrero.

“I think it’s a selfless act of solidarity, with not only our encampment but like other student encampments to show that there are faculty who also support our movement,” said Guerrero, a junior in industrial engineering.

UTA President Jennifer Cowley wrote a letter to the Progressive Student Union, responding to their divestment demands on Friday afternoon, saying the university has “no authority to control investments of the UT System” and that state law prohibits academic boycotts.

“UTA is committed to providing its community opportunities for civil discourse while also ensuring the safety of our entire campus and preventing interference or disruption of class instruction, University operation and other scheduled events,” Cowley wrote.

The Progressive Student Union is distributing petitions to support their divestment demands to UTA faculty and staff and UTA students. A local mosque, one student said, is sending over food to support the protesters. One student organizer said they definitely plan to stay around for the weekend.

Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open Campus. Contact her at shomial.ahmad@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.