Updated: Virginia Tech police say they arrested 82 people Sunday night when they broke up a days-long protest on campus.
A statement released Monday afternoon by the university said 53 of the 82 people are Virginia Tech students. All 82 people are charged with trespassing.
The Graduate Life Center is open and scheduled activities are taking place.
Original Story: State police and other local law enforcement arrived on campus at 10 p.m. Sunday and asked protestors to leave. Dozens of people who chose to remain on the lawn outside the Graduate Life Center were handcuffed and removed. It’s not clear at this time how many people are being arrested, or how many of them are students.
Students and other community members began protesting Friday morning in what started as a small gathering of about thirty people. By the time police began removing people on Sunday, the crowd at the rally grew to more than a thousand. They continued to chant for hours, as protesters were taken away in police vehicles.
Mark Owczarski, spokesperson for Virginia Tech, said administration had contacted protestors several times on Sunday informing them that their protest was in violation of campus policy.
Read the complete statement here