Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein stated that following her arrest, she was charged with assaulting a police officer when she attended a pro-Palestinian protest on the Washington University campus in St. Louis, Missouri.

In an interview for local news station KSDK hours after being released from hours of detention, Stein said, “It was kind of scary to tell you the truth... I was charged with assaulting a police officer. Can you believe it?”

She relayed that the University students invited her to join the protest, and before her arrest, she posted a video on X saying: “We’re going to stand here in line with the students who are standing for democracy, standing up for human rights, standing up to end genocide.”

Another video was circulated on social media of a confrontation between protesters, including Stein, and police who shoved a bike into her.

Police shove a bike against 73-year-old Presidential Candidate Jill Stein before dragging her out of the Washington State University student encampment and arresting her pic.twitter.com/9FJZV8l2bx

— Mnar Adley (@MnarMuh) April 28, 2024

A statement released by Washington University revealed that 100 individuals - including 23 students and four university staff - were arrested on Saturday as they “refused to leave after being asked multiple times.”

It added, “All face charges of trespassing and some may also be charged with resisting arrest and assault, including for injuries to three police officers who sustained injuries including a severe concussion, a broken finger and a groin injury."

“I think it’s a really bad look for the university,” Stein continued to tell KSDK. “This is about freedom of speech, and not just any old freedom of speech, but freedom of speech on a very critical issue that needs debate and dialogue.”

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Stein said she was in Missouri to garner signatures to qualify to get on the 2024 presidential ballot in the state for her campaign's “pro-worker, anti-war, climate action agenda.”

“They [the American people] don’t want these two zombie candidates rammed down their throat again,” she expressed, referring to current US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Stein took part in the protests to also support students urging the University to stop all its investments in the company Boeing, because it has contracts with the Israeli occupation forces and Israeli security industries. 

Stein told CNN before her arrest Saturday, "This is about freedom of speech... on a very critical issue," noting, "And there they are, sending in the riot police and basically creating a riot."

American presidential candidate, Jill Stein, was arrested earlier alongside her campaign manager and deputy campaign manager while they were supporting students during a pro-#Palestine protest at #Washington University in St. Louis. pic.twitter.com/gLchzhTopJ

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 28, 2024

Encampments have been the venue of multiple forms of protests such as teach-ins (which began in the 1960s Vietnam protests), dances, and poetry readings, while other students were seen completing assignments and painting. 

Read next: WH urges 'peaceful' protests despite police deployment for crackdown

Hundreds of students and faculty staff members from prestigious American universities are still protesting the Israeli genocide in Gaza despite various attempts from administrators and police officers to stop them through disciplinary measures and violent arrests. 

According to a tally by The Washington Post, over the last 10 days, American authorities have arrested at least 900 protesters at pro-Palestine protests on college campuses, making this the widest police response to campus activism in years, and it may subject law enforcement agencies to challenges.