Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president, was arrested Saturday during a campus protest.
Lest her arrest not get the publicity the campaign wanted, Stein posted video of it on the social media platform X.
“Jill Stein and her Campaign Manager and Deputy Campaign Manager, Jason Call and Kelly Merrill-Cayer, have been arrested at Washington University in St. Louis while supporting a protest against WashU’s ties to the war on Gaza,” she wrote.
BREAKING: Jill Stein and her Campaign Manager and Deputy Campaign Manager, Jason Call and Kelly Merrill-Cayer, have been arrested at Washington University in St. Louis while supporting a protest against WashU’s ties to the war on Gaza.
Video from @KallieECox pic.twitter.com/rkUYC9b5Qx— Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) April 28, 2024
Stein, who could attract leftist supporters who think President Joe Biden isn’t leftist enough, was among 80 people arrested Saturday, according to KDSK-TV in St. Louis.
Stein told the station she was charged with assault.
She was booked into the jail just before 7:30 p.m. Saturday and released at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, KDSK reported.
“I sat a long time sitting alone in a cell, and I had no idea— ‘Did anybody even know I was there?’ I was separated from the group, and I was like, ‘Am I going be there all night or in here for a week?’” she said.
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Stein claimed she was really the victim of assault.
“I got separated from the rest of the crowd, you know, and actually initially felt like there was a lot of safety in numbers. Then, it turned out I was being charged with assault after being assaulted by an officer on a bicycle and basically thrown onto my head,” she said.
She was captured on video in the thick of the clash between police and protesters.
Green Party politician Jill Stein ASSAULTS police officers by pushing a bicycle into them as they tried to push crowds back at Washington University in St Louis.
Stein was arrested shortly after and taken away with her hands tied with zip cuffs. pic.twitter.com/gYxdb2TJip
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 28, 2024
The university said all those arrested will face trespassing charges, adding that some protesters will face charges for resisting arrest and for assault in connection with injuries sustained by Washington University police.
The protest group at Washington University wants the college to drop any charges and suspensions against students protesting against the college; boycott Boeing, which sells warplanes to Israel as well as the United States military; boycott any Israeli educational institution, give land back to indigenous communities; and issue a statement condemning Israel for its war against Hamas terrorists.
From an interview before her arrest at Washington University: pic.twitter.com/IaaiWcpsIq
— Kallie Cox (@KallieECox) April 28, 2024
“We’re here to support the students who are standing up for our highest American values, for our democracy and for an end to this genocide which is unacceptable and a blight on this nation,” Stein said prior to her arrest, according to Newsweek.
“It must be stopped. The American people want it stopped. That’s what these students are here standing up for,” she said.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said a college statement blamed some of the protest violence on outsiders.
“It quickly became clear through the words and actions of this group that they did not have good intentions on our campus and that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous,” the statement said.
