Police arrested 136 protesters, including 60 students, over two pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of Texas in April.
On April 24, state and local police descended to UT on horseback, bikes, motorcycles and in cars to face pro-Palestinian protesters who were calling on the university to divest from Israeli weapons manufacturers. Officials with the Dean of Students Office told protest organizers the rally was unauthorized for fear it would escalate to campus disruption, rule violations and encampments as was happening at other universities across the nation. More than 50 people were arrested.
Five days later, UT police, Austin police and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers again poured onto the campus to break up an impromptu encampment briefly set up during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the South Mall. Officers used pepper spray and flash bang grenades to push back against a developing protest after the makeshift encampment was taken down.
In records obtained by the American-Statesman through the Texas Public Information Act for all the UT Police Department's overtime expenses for both protests, a document entitled “2024 Protest Purchases” details $8,641 worth of charges, largely related to food, water and flex cuffs (otherwise known as zip ties). The related expenses don't include staffing fees or costs for equipment used.
As part of the department's purchases for the protests on April 24 and April 29, UT spent $5,200 total at Pok-e-Jo's, an Austin barbecue restaurant near campus. This was the largest expense at $3,900 and $1,300 in two separate transactions.
The second-largest expense was $1,833.72 for hotel rooms for UT System police officers, according to the document and UT police Director of Strategic and Executive Communications Stephanie Jacksis, who could not elaborate for how many nights or for how many officers the university secured hotel rooms.
As per the university's operating procedures, meals “are not reimbursable without an overnight stay” unless expenses are “mandatory and connected with training, a seminar, or a conference.” UT spokesperson Mike Rosen, however, told the Statesman that the Pok-e-Jo's barbecue charges were classified as an “official occasional expense” — defined in the operating procedures as “a reception, luncheon, dinner, or similar event that is sponsored and funded by The University of Texas at Austin and is often hosted by an administrative officer.”
About 300 UT police officers, UT first responders and campus Office of Emergency Management staff members responded to the protests and received the food, which was paid for by the Office of Emergency Management, Rosen said. It worked out to about $17.33 a person, Rosen said — well below UT’s $100 cap per person on average for food and refreshments under an official occasional expense.
“It should be recognized that UT does not hesitate to exercise its budgetary discretion to procure the necessary provisions to maintain public safety and prevent operational disruption,” Rosen said.
“We are thankful for our hundreds of staff members, including our law enforcement, many of whom endured multiple days of heat and intense confrontation to enforce laws and University rules so that our 53,000 students could finish their semester and prepare for finals in the midst of an organized attempt to paralyze campus operations,” he added.
Why did UT make the related expenses?
UT President Jay Hartzell asserted that the police response was necessary to ensure safety on campus — a sentiment echoed by Gov. Greg Abbott, conservative Texas lawmakers and UT System Chairman Kevin Eltife. But students and university employees have said the police response to the protests was excessive and dangerous for students, and the school's Faculty Council has questioned what criteria led UT to determine that a significant police response was needed.
After the April 24 protest, more than 500 UT faculty members signed aletter of no confidencein Hartzell, condemning the police response at the demonstration as well as unrelated employee terminations made April 2 as part of the university's compliance with the state's ban on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at institutions of higher education.
The protests at UT were held in solidarity with demonstrations nationwide calling for universities to divest from weapons manufacturers aiding Israel in its war against Hamas, the militant governing body of Gaza. Protests rang out at campuses across the U.S. calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. More than 34,000 people have been reportedly killed in the region amid Israel's bombardment in response to deadly Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas against the Jewish state. Hamas killed 1,200 people during its initial attacks on Israel and took more than 200 hostages.
Sam Law, a UT graduate student who was arrested during the April 29 protest, said the significant police response to the demonstrations escalated tensions and called the related expenses surprising and "appalling."
“To hear that the university was spending money on luxury barbecue for the police officers, rather than caring for the safety of the students who attend UT Austin, it's appalling,” Law said. “It’s one detail in a sort of long litany of details of the deep disdain that the university has for its students.”
Pauline Strong, president of the UT chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said the police response felt "much more disruptive than the protests were themselves."
"Clearly (UT) mobilized a lot of police forces and a lot of police technology, and it must have been a really expensive operation," Strong said. "And from the point of view of many faculty, it was excessive police presence and disruptive in itself."
What were UT's other costs?
The university spent $293 on flex cuffs, or zip ties. Jacksis could not say how many zip ties UT purchased or when they were bought.
In place of handcuffs, officers, whose uniforms were clad with zip tie bunches, used the flex cuffs to arrest protesters on campus, according to people who were arrested and Statesman journalists at the scene.
UT police also spent $578 on Liquid IV, a powdered hydration option, and on Propel, a lightly flavored bottled water with vitamins and electrolytes, as well as $560 on water. The daily high temperatures during the April 24 and April 29 protests ranged from the lower to mid-80s.
Law said protesters received water from Street Medics Austin, a nonprofit medic group that was present at the protests, and from one another, and not from police.
“It wasn't the university who was taking care of people, it was community members,” Law said. “The very same outside agitators the university is decrying."
Rosen, however, said water was available at the protests and was given to whomever needed it. As for the protest-related costs, he said the expenses were treated similarly to other campus emergencies.
“We will continue to support these important team members during emergencies or other times of need,” Rosen said.
UT protest purchases
Pok-e-Jo's — $5,200
Hotel — $1,833.72
Liquid IV/Propel — $578.25
Water — $560.84
Flex cuffs (zip ties) — $293
Portable chargers — $100.66
Lanyard holders — $75.18
Total: $8,641.65
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: University of Texas pro-Palestinian protests expenses: BBQ, hotel
