Stony Brook professor arrested in clash between police and pro-Palestinian protesters recounts experience
Stony Brook Professor Josh Dubnau, who was arrested with students, in his Huntington home Friday. Credit: John Roca
Professor Josh Dubnau had gone home after work at Stony Brook University on Wednesday and had dinner with his family when he started getting messages from pro-Palestinian student protesters around 9:30 p.m.: The police were massing, and the students were afraid.
Dubnau, who is Jewish, went back to the campus to accompany the students who had set up an encampment on a grassy hill in front of the Staller Center. He planned to step back from the scene and observe when the 11 p.m. deadline set by the university to evacuate the site and end the two-day demonstration hit.
But close to midnight when he saw police “stampeding” in pursuit even of students who had left the grassy protest area and gathered near the library, he and another professor decided to stay by their side.
“As a faculty member, I felt that they were not safe with the police that had been set upon them by the administration in the dead of night,” he said.
The university has not clearly stated if they ordered the police intervention, but in a statement Thursday university president Maurie McIniss said: “I am deeply saddened that we reached a point where police intervention became necessary. University administrators made every effort to avert this outcome.”
Suffolk police said they did not make any arrests and were there only for "crowd control." The state police referred questions to Stony Brook.
In the end, Dubnau himself was handcuffed and arrested. He spent 7½ hours detained and said he had his cellphone confiscated by campus police, who charged him with disorderly conduct. He was among 22 students, one other faculty member and five people from outside the university arrested, according to Stony Brook officials.
“I don’t regret doing that,” said Dubnau, 58, a neurobiologist. “I think it was the right decision to make.”
And he said he was proud of the protesters.
They and others around the country “are showing moral leadership to a society that has lost its moral compass. They are saying no to what many people, including me, believe to be the Israeli government’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza."
"Our state, and our universities, are repressing their first amendment rights.”
Israel contends it is fighting to uproot a terrorist organization, Hamas, and civilian casualties are an unintended and unfortunate consequence. About 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to authorities there, following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis.
The campus was quiet Friday. The Staller Steps and another adjacent grassy area were closed off by yellow police tape and barricades, and no one was allowed on them as campus police stood guard.
On Wednesday, Stony Brook officials said the students had to leave the Staller Center area because another group had reserved it for the following day. They warned the students they would be arrested if they did not depart and take down tents. They contend police behaved professionally.
Dubnau, the other professor, and eight of the students were transported to the headquarters of campus police, who told him he will be suspended and barred from campus, he said. Dubnau said he has not been formally notified of that, and will continue working until told otherwise.
The university said in a statement Friday that the faculty members arrested “have not been suspended or banned from campus. The university will continue to follow our policies and collective bargaining requirements when determining any further steps.” The university previously said that three students have received “interim suspensions.”
Dubnau said the other protesters told him they were taken to a police station in Riverhead, apparently because there was not enough room in the campus police headquarters.
He said he was finally released around 7 a.m. Thursday. It took hours to process disorderly conduct charges.
“They kept us in handcuffs for 7½ hours to write 10 tickets. That’s abusive,” he said. “Most people don’t know what it feels like to be handcuffed behind your back. Your arms get sore. Your neck, your shoulders are in pain. You’re completely immobilized.”
He also said campus police refused to return his cellphone, saying it was part of an investigation.
“This is ludicrous because what we were charged with is disorderly conduct, which is a violation," he said. "It’s not even a misdemeanor. It’s not even a criminal charge."
University officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday about the cellphone, or the specific charges against the protesters and faculty.
Robert Chase, an associate professor of history at Stony Brook who is an expert on prisons, policing and the civil rights movement, said he attended the protest Wednesday night only as an observer, and was within feet of the demonstrators when they were arrested.
"The protestors were nonviolent. They were peaceful," he said. "I witnessed no hate speech. I witnessed no antisemitism. These students were engaging in free speech."
The police response was typical of what he called an increasing "militarization" of college campuses and their police forces with growing repression, surveillance and intelligence-gathering against students and faculty.
Colleges "are treating students as if they are national security threats and dissidents," he said.
McInnis said in the statement Thursday to the campus community that “the police acted professionally and with restraint, and most of our students comported themselves peacefully and with dignity in a manner that contrasts sharply with the scenes we are seeing from many other campuses.
“What began on Tuesday as a peaceful demonstration in compliance with our rules escalated to include intimidation and harassment of other students, the erection of tents in violation of the University’s policy, and the continued occupation of a space that must continue to be available to other student groups that had reserved its use well in advance,” she said.
Some Jewish students contend some protestors made obscene gestures toward them and displayed signs such as “Zionists Don’t Belong Here” and “Wolfie Hates Zionists" that makes them feel threatened. Stony Brook's school mascot is the Seawolf.
Dubnau said he has engaged in civil disobedience previously about 10 times, and been arrested four times, but had never seen the level of crackdown he saw at Stony Brook early Thursday. Scores of campus police were joined by Suffolk County police and State Troopers.
“It was a lot of chaos. It was not what I would expect from a professional police force and a professional administration,” he said. “They were very aggressive with the students.”
McInnis said Thursday that "we have demonstrated repeatedly that Stony Brook University is committed to supporting the right to free speech and peaceful assembly. And we also must, and will, protect the rights of all our students to feel safe on our campus."
Dubnau said he is not concerned about his status at Stony Brook because he has tenure, and he cannot be dismissed or punished for a disorderly conduct charge.
“There are many faculty who are not as privileged as I am to have tenure. This type of repression does stifle people’s speech unless they feel secure with tenure or unless they are incredibly brave,” he said. “It doesn’t take as much bravery for me to speak out because I have a relatively secure position there.”
Professor Josh Dubnau had gone home after work at Stony Brook University on Wednesday and had dinner with his family when he started getting messages from pro-Palestinian student protesters around 9:30 p.m.: The police were massing, and the students were afraid.
Dubnau, who is Jewish, went back to the campus to accompany the students who had set up an encampment on a grassy hill in front of the Staller Center. He planned to step back from the scene and observe when the 11 p.m. deadline set by the university to evacuate the site and end the two-day demonstration hit.
But close to midnight when he saw police “stampeding” in pursuit even of students who had left the grassy protest area and gathered near the library, he and another professor decided to stay by their side.
“As a faculty member, I felt that they were not safe with the police that had been set upon them by the administration in the dead of night,” he said.
The university has not clearly stated if they ordered the police intervention, but in a statement Thursday university president Maurie McIniss said: “I am deeply saddened that we reached a point where police intervention became necessary. University administrators made every effort to avert this outcome.”
Suffolk police said they did not make any arrests and were there only for "crowd control." The state police referred questions to Stony Brook.
In the end, Dubnau himself was handcuffed and arrested. He spent 7½ hours detained and said he had his cellphone confiscated by campus police, who charged him with disorderly conduct. He was among 22 students, one other faculty member and five people from outside the university arrested, according to Stony Brook officials.
“I don’t regret doing that,” said Dubnau, 58, a neurobiologist. “I think it was the right decision to make.”
And he said he was proud of the protesters.
They and others around the country “are showing moral leadership to a society that has lost its moral compass. They are saying no to what many people, including me, believe to be the Israeli government’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza."
"Our state, and our universities, are repressing their first amendment rights.”
Israel contends it is fighting to uproot a terrorist organization, Hamas, and civilian casualties are an unintended and unfortunate consequence. About 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to authorities there, following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis.
The campus was quiet Friday. The Staller Steps and another adjacent grassy area were closed off by yellow police tape and barricades, and no one was allowed on them as campus police stood guard.
On Wednesday, Stony Brook officials said the students had to leave the Staller Center area because another group had reserved it for the following day. They warned the students they would be arrested if they did not depart and take down tents. They contend police behaved professionally.
Dubnau, the other professor, and eight of the students were transported to the headquarters of campus police, who told him he will be suspended and barred from campus, he said. Dubnau said he has not been formally notified of that, and will continue working until told otherwise.
The university said in a statement Friday that the faculty members arrested “have not been suspended or banned from campus. The university will continue to follow our policies and collective bargaining requirements when determining any further steps.” The university previously said that three students have received “interim suspensions.”
Dubnau said the other protesters told him they were taken to a police station in Riverhead, apparently because there was not enough room in the campus police headquarters.
He said he was finally released around 7 a.m. Thursday. It took hours to process disorderly conduct charges.
“They kept us in handcuffs for 7½ hours to write 10 tickets. That’s abusive,” he said. “Most people don’t know what it feels like to be handcuffed behind your back. Your arms get sore. Your neck, your shoulders are in pain. You’re completely immobilized.”
He also said campus police refused to return his cellphone, saying it was part of an investigation.
“This is ludicrous because what we were charged with is disorderly conduct, which is a violation," he said. "It’s not even a misdemeanor. It’s not even a criminal charge."
University officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday about the cellphone, or the specific charges against the protesters and faculty.
Robert Chase, an associate professor of history at Stony Brook who is an expert on prisons, policing and the civil rights movement, said he attended the protest Wednesday night only as an observer, and was within feet of the demonstrators when they were arrested.
"The protestors were nonviolent. They were peaceful," he said. "I witnessed no hate speech. I witnessed no antisemitism. These students were engaging in free speech."
The police response was typical of what he called an increasing "militarization" of college campuses and their police forces with growing repression, surveillance and intelligence-gathering against students and faculty.
Colleges "are treating students as if they are national security threats and dissidents," he said.
McInnis said in the statement Thursday to the campus community that “the police acted professionally and with restraint, and most of our students comported themselves peacefully and with dignity in a manner that contrasts sharply with the scenes we are seeing from many other campuses.
“What began on Tuesday as a peaceful demonstration in compliance with our rules escalated to include intimidation and harassment of other students, the erection of tents in violation of the University’s policy, and the continued occupation of a space that must continue to be available to other student groups that had reserved its use well in advance,” she said.
Some Jewish students contend some protestors made obscene gestures toward them and displayed signs such as “Zionists Don’t Belong Here” and “Wolfie Hates Zionists" that makes them feel threatened. Stony Brook's school mascot is the Seawolf.
Dubnau said he has engaged in civil disobedience previously about 10 times, and been arrested four times, but had never seen the level of crackdown he saw at Stony Brook early Thursday. Scores of campus police were joined by Suffolk County police and State Troopers.
“It was a lot of chaos. It was not what I would expect from a professional police force and a professional administration,” he said. “They were very aggressive with the students.”
McInnis said Thursday that "we have demonstrated repeatedly that Stony Brook University is committed to supporting the right to free speech and peaceful assembly. And we also must, and will, protect the rights of all our students to feel safe on our campus."
Dubnau said he is not concerned about his status at Stony Brook because he has tenure, and he cannot be dismissed or punished for a disorderly conduct charge.
“There are many faculty who are not as privileged as I am to have tenure. This type of repression does stifle people’s speech unless they feel secure with tenure or unless they are incredibly brave,” he said. “It doesn’t take as much bravery for me to speak out because I have a relatively secure position there.”
