8:51 p.m. Protest leaders told the crowd to pick up their trash before they left, and to go home with a buddy.
Demonstrators began to leave what had been a peaceful protest that lasted close to three hours on the South Oval of Ohio State University.
"Respectfully, go the (expletive) home," one leader said.
"We need everyone to start heading home. Please keep us safe. And in order to do so, we need everyone to go home," the leader said.
Protesters numbering less than 100 milled in groups on and around the South Oval afterward as others walked away and Ohio State police on bikes watched.
Ohio State associate professor of English Dr. Pranav Jani was one of the main speakers at Wednesday's demonstration. Before the protest started, he led a crowd of 100 faculty and staff to the protest at the South Oval.
Jani said faculty were worried about another police crackdown. That did not end up happening.
"Faculty and staff coming together like this. In my 20 years at Ohio State, I've never seen this kind of willingness to mobilize on the ground to support a student protest," Jani said.
Jani said Monday about 200 faculty and staff held a meeting and people expressed outrage at police actions. He said many are also supporters of the demands of students.
Students are demanding a cease fire in the Israel-Hamas war, but also for Ohio State University to disclose financial support for Israel and divest from it.
Jani said there's a narrative being put forward that protesters are criminal and that outside agitators are causing chaos at these demonstrations. He said he wants to dispel that.
Jani said he and others were worried about the arrests and the fact that Ohio State Highway Patrol brought out snipers last week. But he said he wants the protest and message to refocus on what is happening in Gaza.
"This is about Gaza. And if we don't talk about Gaza and only talk about free speech, then we are doing a disservice to understanding why it is that these students speech is being suppressed," Jani said.
To date, more than 30,000 people have died since Israel invaded Gaza following an attack by Hamas that killed over 1,000 Israelis. The majority of those killed since Oct. 7 have been women and children.
8:28 p.m. Protest continues into third hour. University warns that overnight events are not permitted.
The protest continued into its third hour and police have not threatened to break up the demonstration.
Student protest leaders like Jamil Aboushaar and Dalal Shalash have spoken and lead hundreds of people in chants. Shalash was one of dozens arrested at last week’s protest by OSUPD and Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Shalash said the amount of people present was a testament to the success of their movement. She pointed out and criticized some OSU staff and police officers that were on an Ohio Union porch watching.
Aboushaar told the crowd they would meet again Friday on campus at 1:30 p.m. for another protest.
Police erected an electronic sign facing away from the protest that read “No overnight events permitted. To include encampments.”
Ohio State space rules say overnight events are not permitted unless approved by the university.
WOSU asked Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson if this protest had requested or been approved to stay overnight and he said organizers did not.
Despite this, protesters seem to be in it for the long haul. Organizers passed out watermelon, turkey sandwiches, pizza, water and falafel sandwiches.
Police also had a drone flying overhead and have overwatch support stationed on the Ohio Union roof. It’s unclear if they have a sniper rifle with them. The Lantern, an Ohio State student newspaper, confirmed that OSHP brought out sniper rifles at the last protest when police began arresting people.
6:30 p.m. Protestors move to South Oval
Hundreds of pro-Palestinians protesters moved to the South Oval and began chanting.
The chants include "From Columbus to Palestine, police violence is a crime" and "CPD, KKK, IOF they're all the same."
Ohio State police are at the protest and are standing at the peripheral of the crowd.
The protest is mimicking last week's protest.
They are in a ring at the front of the South Oval and organizers are in the middle. Around 6:30 p.m., organizers also told protestors to sit down.
A group of dozens of OSU faculty and staff paraded down College Road before the protest began in support of the demonstrators.
One who arrived late and watched from the Ohio Union patio was Victor Espinosa, an assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State's Newark campus.
He said he tried to put himself in the shoes of the protesters. He asked himself what he would feel like a foreign country invaded his home country of Mexico.
"I support what they're doing," he said.
5:50 p.m. Protesters start gathering on South Oval
Ohio State University students are gathering again to protest Israel's war in Gaza and call on the university to stop funding companies supportive of Israel on Wednesday.
Protestors donning keffiyehs, a traditional and symbolic Palestinian headwear, started gathering on the back patio of the Ohio Union around 5:30 p.m. Other carried signs or wore shirts supportive of Palestinians and a cease fire as Israel continues its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The protest is set to start at 6 p.m. Dozens were arrested at a protest held on campus last week.
Ohio State police, Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office arrested 41 people last week and charged them with criminal trespassing.
Ohio State University has locked some buildings in anticipation of Wednesday night's planned protest on the South Oval, including the Ohio Union, which has a sign posted in the window saying only staff members will be allowed card access into the building.
"The university is aware of a planned demonstration that some participants are referring to as an encampment," Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said in an email to WOSU.
The group Students for Justice in Palestine said on its Instagram story that it is encouraging students to wear Palestinian and OSU clothing to the demonstration. The group criticized the university for closing the buildings to students.
