by The Boston Consulting Group office is located in the 2500 block of North Harwood Street, and more than 70 units responded to the scene.
By Alex Nguyen, Bianca Rodriguez-Mora, and Chase RogersMorning News in Dallas: https://www.dallasnews.com/
Twelve persons were taken into custody by Dallas police after pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a sit-in at an Uptown office building on Friday afternoon.
An online list of the department’s active calls shows that over 70 units responded to the 2500 block of North Harwood Street. Police spokesperson Officer Luis Mata stated in a statement that as officers tried to detain people who entered the building, a crowd had started to form.
Mata told The Dallas Morning News that nine people are currently being charged with criminal trespass. One person is charged with interfering, resisting, and assaulting a public servant, while two others are charged with interfering with public responsibilities.
Additionally, one of the detained individuals was sent to a nearby hospital. Mata explained that this was done as a precaution after they collided with someone else while being arrested.
The identities of the twelve people that were taken into custody are yet unknown.
Stop Starving Gaza Now was the name of the protest, which was planned to happen from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The protest was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement. According to Mata, protesters entered the facility at approximately 4:45 p.m., and as the crowd grew, police asked for more officers to respond.
The protest was the most recent of a series of rallies held on American college campuses and in American cities since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023. The protesters demanded an end to US backing for Israel’s military assault and drew attention to the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Israel’s supporters have hailed the offensive as a necessary reaction to the attacks by Hamas.
A media advisory claims that the Palestinian Youth Movement decided to demonstrate in front of the international management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group. The company maintains an office on North Harwood Street in Dallas.
Due to their alleged illegal work for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Boston Consulting Group stated last month that it had fired two of its partners. According to The Associated Press, Israel wants to replace aid distribution organizations in Gaza that work with the UN by using the foundation, which is primarily made up of American contractors.
The firm stated at the time that it would look into the matter, although it did not name the partners. Part of the statement said, “We sincerely regret that in this situation we did not live up to our standards.”
A request for comment regarding the Dallas protest from The News was not immediately answered by the company.
“I was banging pots and pans to support others staging a sit-in inside the building housing Boston Consulting Group,” Noor Saleh, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement’s Dallas chapter, said in an interview.
The throng outside the building then followed the officers as they started handcuffing and escorting the sit-in participants, according to Saleh.
A sit-in is a type of peaceful demonstration where protesters take over a location, usually within a building, workplace, or public space, and refuse to leave. This is usually done to raise awareness of a social or political issue.
The majority of the protesters had left North Harwood Street by 6:30 p.m., with others moving to the Lew Sterrett Justice Center jail. To show support for individuals who had been jailed, around two dozen people gathered outside and in the jail’s lobby.
By Chase Rogers
Chase Rogers works for The Dallas Morning News as a breaking news reporter. He attended Texas State University in San Marcos to study journalism after growing up in Granbury. He worked as a reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and the Austin American-Statesman before joining The News. His number is 361-239-6527, and his signal is crogers.95.
Rodriguez-Mora, Bianca
The Dallas Morning News employs Bianca Rodriguez-Mora as a breaking news intern. She previously worked as an editorial intern at D Magazine, where she produced stories about the Oak Cliff community. She just received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and design from The New School.
By Alex Nguyen
The Dallas Morning News employs Alex Nguyen as a breaking news reporter. Additionally, Bloomberg News and The Texas Tribune have featured her work. She is constantly searching for mouthwatering street food and speaks conversational Spanish and Vietnamese.
The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News have partnered to reprint this story, which was first published in The Dallas Morning News. The collaboration aims to increase coverage of communities of color in Dallas, especially in the city’s southern region.
