Professor Beaten, Dragged By Police At Pro-Palestinian Rally At St. Louis Campus

A Southern Illinois University professor appeared to be beaten and injured by police at a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Washington University in St. Louis over the weekend, according to video footage shared by a bystander.

On Saturday, protesters gathered at a park in St. Louis and later moved the demonstration to the Washington University campus, the St. Louis Police Department (SLMPD) told HuffPost in an email. Video footage from the demonstration captures the chaos that unfolded as police crowded around protesters and attempted to restrain them.

In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), the professor, Steve Tamari, can be seen moving closer to the chaos, trying to capture the scene on camera, when a police officer grabs his arm and pushes him back. A few other officers joined in restraining Tamari, grabbing the man, slamming him to the ground and later dragging his limp body to a police van.

In a poston X, a woman who identified herself as Tamari’s wife,Sandra Tamari, shared a video of her husband being “brutally beaten” by police, noting that both of them were arrested at the student encampment.

“I was arrested at the Gaza encampment at Washington University in St. Louis on [Saturday]. My husband, a 65-year old full professor at [St. Illinois University Edwardsville], was brutally beaten by police. Here is the video of his arrest,” she wrote.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch , the SLMPD, along with several other departments, was at the protest on Saturday. The St. Louis police told HuffPost that they did not arrest any protesters. The department also did not comment on the video of Tamari being beaten.

The Washington University Police Department did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for