Incident at the University of Pennsylvania
Last fall, a striking incident occurred at the University of Pennsylvania when someone defaced a statue honoring Benjamin Franklin, the esteemed founder of the institution, by splattering it with red paint. This act of vandalism was promptly addressed, as campus maintenance workers quickly cleaned the statue within hours. However, the university was keen on identifying the perpetrator behind this act.
A pro-Palestinian group publicly claimed responsibility for the vandalism on social media platforms. In response, the university initiated an investigation that involved analyzing surveillance footage and utilizing advanced technology. They tracked down a student’s cellphone number by analyzing data from the campus Wi-Fi network around the statue during the time of the incident. Armed with this evidence, campus police secured a search warrant for T-Mobile’s call records linked to the identified phone. Subsequently, they obtained a warrant to seize the phone itself.
On October 18, at the early hour of 6 a.m., a coordinated operation involving both campus and city police unfolded at the off-campus residence of the student believed to be the owner of the cellphone. Eyewitnesses reported that officers shone bright lights into the student’s bedroom window while brandishing firearms. They then entered the apartment and confiscated the phone, as detailed in a police report. Despite these drastic measures, the student has not faced any criminal charges to date.
The statue of Benjamin Franklin, which was vandalized on the morning of September 12, 2024, stands as a symbol of the ongoing tensions surrounding free speech and protest on campus.
The investigation at Penn is part of a broader trend across various universities in the United States, where institutions have increasingly resorted to advanced technology and displays of police authority to probe student-related vandalism and property crimes linked to pro-Palestinian demonstrations. It is noteworthy that these actions escalated even before the return of President Trump to office.
Since his return, Trump has signaled his intent to leverage federal power to compel universities to adopt a stringent stance regarding campus protests. His administration has issued warnings to 60 universities about potential penalties stemming from investigations into antisemitism and has begun to target protesters for deportation. Alarmingly, at least nine individuals, including current or former students and one professor holding visas or green cards, have come under scrutiny, with reports of at least one student being detained on the street by officials in plainclothes.
