A student was arrested on campus last Sunday after tying himself to the flagpole in front of Chapin Hall, replacing the U.S. flag with a Palestinian one, and writing pro-Palestine graffiti on Sawyer Quad, where the day’s commencement ceremony took place, according to Williamstown Police Department (WPD) Chief Mike Ziemba. The student, Liam Carey ’27, was taken into custody before the ceremony began, and now faces charges of felony vandalism, misdemeanor destruction of property, and resisting arrest.
WPD officers were called to campus at 8 a.m., and deferred to the College on whether to take Carey into custody, Ziemba told iBerkshires.
College staff gave Carey the opportunity to step away from the pole multiple times prior to his arrest, Interim Director of Media Relations Amy Lovett wrote in an email to the Record. Following more than half an hour of discussion, WPD took him into custody, according to Lovett. Ziemba told the Record that after giving him the opportunity to leave, College staff requested that Carey be removed from the College for trespassing.
Carey went limp when WPD officers attempted to remove him, iBerkshires reported, which led to the charge of resisting arrest. Carey, who is no longer in police custody, was held on $7,500 cash bail. Ziemba confirmed on Monday that Carey had posted bail.
Lovett declined to confirm the content of the graffiti, but Ziemba said it was “pro-Palestinian or ‘anti-colonizers’” in a statement to iBerkshires. “Some was vulgar. Some accused Williams of funding genocide. Some was just random thoughts.” College staff covered most of the graffiti before the commencement ceremony began at 10 a.m., Ziemba said.
The Record reached out to Carey for comment after his arrest. “I urge people to always remember what is happening in Gaza, where Israel (aided by the US) is intentionally starving the entire population and has ethnically cleansed civilians from 80 percent of the strip,” he wrote in an email, with hyperlinks.
President Maud S. Mandel referenced Carey’s protest in her remarks at the beginning of the commencement ceremony. “We’ve had many discussions on campus about world events and we have many points of views reflected in our community,” she said. “This has been reflected in some protest activity this weekend.”
“Today is a time for students to feel good about their accomplishments, and family and friends are here from around the world to celebrate,” she continued.“So I won’t go on at length, but I wanted to acknowledge that broader context that we are all involved in right now.”
Many seniors demonstrated their support for Palestine during the ceremony by wearing keffiyehs and pins displaying the Palestinian flag that read, “Free Khalil, Free Palestine, Free Them All.”
Among them was Brodie Leo ’25, who protested during commencement by stepping up to speak at the vacant podium after accepting his diploma holder from Mandel. “A Williams student was arrested this morning for raising a Palestinian flag, a nationality and identity that is proudly represented in our faculty and student body,” he said. “Free them, and free Palestine.”
In an email to the Record, Leo wrote, “Commencement is a time for reflection, and with administration, alumni, families, and current and future Williams donors present, I felt that it was important to directly name, as Maud put it, ‘the broader context that we are all involved in right now.’”
“All of the speakers this past weekend, from Esther Duflo to Valerie Jarrett to Maud S. Mandel, encouraged us to be bold in our convictions, to stand for justice, and to hold compassion for others,” he continued. “I would hope that they encourage these actions not only in theory but in practice. Until a degree can be conferred in Gaza, it is always the time and place to protest at educational institutions as powerful and as privileged as our own.”
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) expressed support for both commencement protests in a statement to the Record. “As SJP was not as active as a whole this semester as we were in the fall, [Carey’s protest] was not officially organized by SJP,” wrote several members of the group, who have been granted anonymity by the Record due to their concerns for their safety.
“It is possible that SJP members were involved,” the statement continued. “With that being said, SJP fully supports the actions taken by pro-Palestinian students both before and during graduation, including Liam’s. We condemn the arrest of Liam and the College’s suppression of protest at graduation.”
“There were several instances of protest over the weekend, as there have been recently on other campuses,” Mandel wrote in an all-campus email on Monday. “But at this time when society is so politically divided, I was deeply moved to see thousands of people from around the world cheering together for the graduates.”
The College did not specify what disciplinary actions it may take against Carey. “We have clear protest policies and will address the campus conduct aspects of this in due course,” Lovett told the Record. “But the police’s process takes precedence.” According to the College’s sanctions rubric, property damage and “unauthorized access to campus buildings and areas” can lead to consequences ranging from an informal warning to a formal disciplinary process.
Carey’s arraignment, originally set for June 23, was rescheduled to July 2 after the Northern Berkshire District Court approved his lawyer’s motion to postpone.
