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A speaker calls demonstrators liars with a megaphone at the encampment on Friday.
A speaker calls demonstrators liars with a megaphone at the encampment on Friday.
Angel Saldivar
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Live coverage: Encampment keeps on to sixth day

A truck sits between Gregory and Lincoln Halls with illuminated screens on the sides and back.
May 3, 5 p.m.

A truck was parked on the southwest side of the Main Quad with images projected on each side of Israeli hostages taken on Oct. 7 by Hamas, the Palestinian political and militant organization that holds power across sections of the Gaza Strip.

According to Jonah Long, senior in Business, the truck was not brought to campus as a form of counterprotest to the encampment.

Protestors in the encampment declined to comment on the truck and its placement, between Gregory and Lincoln Halls.

 

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A truck sits between Gregory and Lincoln Halls with illuminated screens on the sides and back. (Matt Stepp)
Protesters hold up signs confronting the preacher who appeared in the encampment with a megaphone on Friday.
Protesters hold up signs confronting the preacher who appeared in the encampment with a megaphone on Friday. (Anh-Khoi Pham)
May 3, 4:03 p.m.

Christopher Svochak, the individual who entered the encampment with a megaphone at around 12:40 p.m., returned at approximately 3:40 p.m. and spoke for nearly 20 minutes.

Svochak again preached about his views on religion, the encampment and homosexuality.

The encampment responded to Svochak’s remarks by holding up signs that read “womp womp” and chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has got to go” and “Free, free Palestine.”

Svochak made to leave, however, when demonstrators paused their chanting for a moment, Svochak returned to the encampment for an “encore,” during which one demonstrator stood directly in front of him holding a sign. During this brief speech, Svochak spoke disparagingly about the “Prophet Muhammad,” a central figure of the Islamic religion. Svochak left the premises around 4:03 p.m.

 

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Students speak to police conducting an investigation in front of the Union after counter protesters called the police early Friday morning.
May 3, 3:05 p.m.

The Daily Illini spoke with a media representative from the encampment for updates. 

**This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The individual has elected to remain anonymous for safety reasons.**

DI: Can you tell me what happened last night?

Student representative: There was an altercation with some counterprotesters, and the counterprotesters then called the police. We were a little freaked out that the police thought it was going to be related to the encampment, and they were not whatsoever. We were worried the police were going to come and raid us. We got a little spooked, but everything was resolved. They had no correlation to us, so we’re all good.

DI: Was there any sort of physical alterations?

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Student representative: I think it was more just like a shout. The counterprotesters were trying to instigate something, and then they found the right guy to push up against that would give them a response.

DI: You guys have been meeting with Vice Chancellor Jim Hintz a lot these past two to three days. Can you tell me how those conversations are going?

Student representative: Yeah, we’ve just been in negotiations. He’s kind of the messenger to get through to the chancellor. We tell Hintz our demand, he goes back, (administration) responds and he comes back.

DI: Could you give me a glimpse into what your demands look like?

Student representative: Yeah, we have them posted on social media. We want complete divestment, to cut off all ties with anything related to Israel and we want amnesty for all students. We want disclosure. This is a public university, and you can easily search out where the investments go, but it is so confusing. You need the Freedom of Information Act to get into more specifics, and then when you’re there, it’s just so much editing. You would need a whole divestment research team to fully understand everything; even then, it’s still confusing because we have a lot of investments in Black Rock, but Black Rock itself does its own investments with the money. So it’s indirectly probably going to Israel, but we can’t access that as much because Black Rock controls it.

DI: Are there any negotiations or offers from their end that you guys would be willing to abide by or something you would be willing to agree with and step down from? 

Student representative: I feel like when that time comes, I will probably have an answer, but as of right now, we are going to continue strong with the encampment and with our goal of divestment.

DI: Can you tell me about the speaker that was here today?

Student representative: There are always those weird speakers who come and tell everyone they’re all going to hell. One lady on the quad would come and have a big sign that said, “You’re going to hell if you’re a homo or a female.” It was literally just like that. He saw there was a big group of people there, and he took it upon himself to walk back and forth and yell stuff. They’re really hard to get rid of because this is a public university, and technically, he can be here. He was just a random person. 

DI: Can you tell me how you guys feel about a state representative coming to support?

Student representative: That was really nice. I know State Representative Abdulnasser Rashid has always been very supportive. We actually brought him down last semester to talk about Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions in Illinois, so he’s always been a great support. I’m very grateful. State Representative Carol Ammons has also been a huge support. I know she’s been talking to the president and is on our side, protecting student protesters and working on any amnesty for us because we’re expressing our First Amendment rights. So yeah, it was very heartwarming. It was nice to see that we truly have the support of so many people. We have faculty, RSO and grad student support. It feels like everyone on this campus is supporting us, and I hope the admin is starting to realize that. Are they going to burn bridges with all the faculty and the facilities and services people to protect a foreign entity and continue bombing kids in Palestine? It’s nice to see and know that we have the full support of the community.

DI: Now that today is the first official day of finals, have you seen any dropping in numbers?

Student representative: Not really. I think a lot of people come during our teach-ins, so I always anticipate the numbers to come in during that time. If any of us need to study, we go somewhere safe to study, but it’s still close to the encampment. So, in case anything happens, we’re on call to come back.

 

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[email protected]

[email protected] 

Students speak to police conducting an investigation in front of the Union after counter protesters called the police early Friday morning. (Angel Saldivar)
Protesters form a circle in the Main Quad on Friday.
Protesters form a circle in the Main Quad on Friday. (Angel Saldivar)
May 3, 2:21 p.m.

**Due to Svochak yelling “liar, liar” over Rashid’s press conference, only the first 50 seconds of Rashid’s statement was able to be understood and transcribed.**

Abdelnasser Rashid, State Representative for Illinois 21st District, gave a press conference to the protesters at the encampment. Rashid was joined by Carol Ammons, State Representative for Illinois 103rd District, along with protesters. Several faculty members were present wearing shirts saying “Protect our students.”

“Hi, everyone. My name is Abdelnasser Rashid. I’m the state representative for the 21st District of Illinois, and I am so proud and so honored to stand here in support and solidarity with the protestors. I want to let all of you know that you are participating in the rich tradition of protesters — part of the American DNA. Generations of students before you were set up in camps just like these to protest the Vietnam War, to fight for civil rights and to protest apartheid in South Africa. You are carrying on that incredible legacy of fighting for peace and for justice, and you should be honored for that. You shouldn’t be maligned — students before you were maligned; the protesters before you were maligned. They’re going to fight back against it because we’re fighting the fight for peace and for justice.”

 

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State representatives visit the encampment on Friday.
May 3, 2:04 p.m.

The Daily Illini spoke with State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid, who was present at the encampment this afternoon. Rashid is the first Palestinian-American to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives and represents the 21st District, which covers part of the Chicagoland area. State Representative Carol Ammons, whose district includes the University, was also present at the scene. 

**This interview has been edited for length and clarity.**

DI: Can you tell us why you​​’re here today?

Rashid: I’m here to support the students in their peaceful protest against the genocide that is unfolding in Gaza and supporting their calls for universities to divest their funds from supporting Israel’s war crimes. I’m here to thank them and let them know that they’ve inspired me and so many other people across the country.

DI: Are you planning to meet with the student organizers, or have you already met with them?

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Rashid: I’ve been talking to student organizers for some time now — here and on campuses throughout Illinois — to make sure that their rights are protected, to connect them with legal organizations and to make sure that they are respected in this work. And so I’ll continue that engagement.

DI: Do you have any plans on meeting with the administration of the University, or have you already met with them?

Rashid: I’ve put in phone calls to administrators at various universities, the U of I and the UI system and to fellow elected officials who represent these universities.

DI: Do you have any plans to write a statement to release publicly at all about the situation?

Rashid: Well, I’ve been speaking publicly, but essentially my statement is that I stand with the students who are peacefully protesting to stop billions of dollars of American funding to Israel, including through their university endowments; that is something that we should all be fighting for.

This is the type of protest that is part of the American DNA; the type of protest that we saw in the civil rights movement and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and that Americans should resonate with. 

DI: You said that you support the freedom of their protest and allow them to speak freely. There have been counterprotests as well from Jewish students and Jewish organizations on campus. Can you talk a little bit about that and how you feel about that situation?

Rashid: Well, I was just talking to Jewish students who are here protesting the genocide and protesting their universities’ endowments supporting Israel’s war crimes. So many Jewish students across the country are standing up, and not just students; Jewish Voices for Peace and others that are critical of what Israel is doing and that want the United States to stop providing funds for these war crimes.

 

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State representatives visit the encampment on Friday. (James Hoeck)
A speaker goes around preaching at the encampment on Friday.
May 3, 1:57 p.m.

The Daily Illini spoke with Christopher Svochak, the man who spoke into a megaphone on the Main Quad at 12:50 p.m. Svochak was not affiliated with the encampment, and the encampment members were instructed not to interact with him. 

**This interview has been edited for length and clarity.**

DI: What is your reason for being here today?

Svochak: Well, I’m here to speak the message of Jesus Christ first. I know there’s a lot of Muslims, Palestinians and Hamas supporters here, so I’m here to preach the message from Jesus Christ to them and everybody else too. I’ve seen people that are homosexual here. I’m preaching to that perspective too. Jesus wants to save all those people and transform them from lies into truth. 

DI: Have you studied these situations at all?

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Svochak: Yeah, absolutely. I actually went to Michigan last week, and over there it’s way bigger than this, so I know what’s going on very in detail. I know the history of this, all the war and everything. I’ve studied it.

DI: Were you invited to speak at this encampment?

Svochak: No, I wasn’t invited, but neither were the people who put their tents up. So that’s one of the reasons I came here. I can freely speak here and they can too; that’s fine. But they’ve done something illegal by putting up structures. We all know on Friday (the police) evicted them and there were arrests and everything else.

DI: Do you agree with what is going on here?

Svochak: I don’t agree with a lot of the ways things are being done. I think that there’s a lot of people here believing lies who aren’t being encouraged to challenge what they’ve been told is true. I’ve gone around, and I’ve talked to some people here, but most of the people I’ve been able to talk to are from outside the encampment, because the encampment organizers, even on their Telegram, are being told not to engage with the police and with other counterprotesters. That’s what it says on their Telegram chat.

DI: Can you tell me anything specific on what the protesters believe is true that you disagree with?

Svochak: Well, they’re being specifically told to say that there have been over 40,000 children and women who lost their lives in Gaza on the Palestinian side. That’s their primary issue. Palestine should be free from Israeli oppression is what they’re saying. What they don’t understand is Hamas is using those people as an elaborate ruse and scheme, just like Hitler used the Nazis. They’re doing the exact same thing and lying to them, telling them not to have their truth challenged like I’m trying to challenge. If somebody can’t speak against the truth, why is that? That’s why I’m here. I know that they’re probably not going to talk to me if they have their leaders going around saying “Don’t talk to them, don’t talk to them, don’t talk to them,” because they don’t want to have their lies challenged.

You know, if lies are challenged, they get exposed, and the Bible even talks about that. People don’t come to the light because their deeds are gonna be exposed. They’re just so doused in their lies. They’re trying to cling on to anybody who will believe them and justify it. I think some of them know it’s a lie, but I’m here to expose that and to tell people the truth so that Jesus can set them free — not just from that, but from their own personal lies and deceit. Jesus can set people free, and that’s why I’m here. I’m sure some people here have heard some of those counterarguments from being in America, but I’m here to say it even louder from a Christian perspective.

**According to ABC News on May 3, “The death toll in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials, and the territory’s entire population has been driven into a humanitarian catastrophe.”**

DI: So you’ve spoken with Palestinian supporters right now?

Svochak: Yes.

DI: Have you spoken with Israeli supporters?

Svochak: Yeah. I know people. More people than just myself. I know personally people that are not from Palestine, but from different parts of the world in the Muslim faith. I don’t know people that have lived in Israel, but I have some personal Jewish ethnicity contacts. Some of the Jewish faith, some not.

 

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A speaker goes around preaching at the encampment on Friday. (James Hoeck)
A Daily Illini reporter speaks with a man not associated with the encampment who engaged with the speaker who approached the encampment.
May 3, 1:25 p.m.

The Daily Illini spoke with Christopher Randolph Morris, junior in LAS, about his interaction with the speaker. Morris is not a member of the encampment, but he supports it.

DI: Are you a part of the encampment?

Morris: I don’t know. I’m here frequently, but I don’t necessarily consider myself part of anything. I just follow truth.

DI: Why did you decide to engage with the speaker?

Morris: I’m Christian, and I often follow what I feel like I should be doing at a certain point in time. I saw him speaking, and it felt like he was trying to pervert Christianity because he claims himself to be a Christian as well. It seemed as if he was attacking my Muslim brothers and sisters, so I felt it was important to engage.

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DI: Do you agree with anything that he was saying?

Morris: I agree with certain points that he was making, but I think he took a lot of things out of context and tried to flip it. I believe that he is close to the truth in believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but I think he was trying to manipulate things to get to his point quicker instead of being patient and loving and kind.

 

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A Daily Illini reporter speaks with a man not associated with the encampment who engaged with the speaker who approached the encampment. (James Hoeck)
A speaker goes around preaching at the encampment on Friday.
May 3, 12:51 p.m.

A speaker with a megaphone is currently on the scene, disapproving of the current encampment and calling demonstrators “liars” and “brainwashed.”

The man reprimanded the demonstrators for, in his view, supporting Hamas. He said that God would judge them all, and without repenting, the protestors would go to hell.

The man also said that Muslims deserve hell for not worshipping the correct god. He called demonstrators “fake Muslims” for not praying at the right time toward the northeast.

“You deserve hell, you deserve hell, you deserve hell,” the man said, pointing to people on the scene.

Protestors offered the man a donut, which he refused.

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The man also called premarital and homosexual sex grounds for hell. He used the Bible as evidence for his claim, referring to the book of Romans and its discussion of sexual immorality.

“Nobody wants you guys here,” the man said. “But I do want to see you guys get saved.”

The man said a demonstrator was a “mind-controller” who was controlling people not to talk. He said the attendees were pawns in a wicked game of genocide, who were here because they were mind-controlled.

“You all are insane,” the man said. “Jesus can bring back your sanity. Liars, liars, liars, liars, liars,” he said. “What are you in solidarity for? Why are you silent?”

The man is making claims about Muhammad being a pedophile and rapist.

At 1:20 p.m., University officials approached the man. The man said, about the encampment, that demonstrators were also in violation.

At 1:22 p.m., a student talked to the man, asking for specific claims in the bible. Other demonstrators talked the student down.

Members of the encampment have been told not to engage with this man.

 

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A speaker goes around preaching at the encampment on Friday. (Angel Saldivar)
Jewish students gathered at Alma Mater on Tuesday during a "demonstration of Jewish pride."
May 3, 11:16 a.m.

Jews for Palestine UIUC released a statement about the ongoing encampment outside of Foellinger Hall. Cosigned by CU Jews 4 Ceasefire, Jews for Palestine UIUC has expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Calling on core Jewish traditions, they state that they are “grounded in the belief that the only way forward is by reaching for each other and ending the lie that Jewish safety requires Palestinian suffering.”

Jews for Palestine UIUC celebrated Passover and Shabbat from within the encampment, advocating for the encampment’s commitment to supporting their Jewish identities through Kosher food options and welcome spaces for prayer.

They claim unequivocal support for the encampment’s demands and right to protest. More information can be found on their Instagram page.

 

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Jewish students gathered at Alma Mater on Tuesday during a “demonstration of Jewish pride.” (Anh-khoi Pham)
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About the Contributors
Angel Saldivar, Assistant Photo Editor
My name is Angel Saldivar and I'm nearing the end of my Journalism degree at the University of Illinois and currently serve as the Assistant Photo Editor at the Daily Illini. When I'm not out taking photos, I'm diving into filmmaking with my film club (shoutout Illini Film and Video) or playing the drums. Got questions or just want to connect? Don't hesitate to email me!
James Hoeck
James Hoeck, Photo Editor
Heyo! I am James Hoeck, a third-year undergraduate student in photography with a minor in media. I have been a part of Illini Media for two years, starting back in fall 2021. I hold the position of Photo Editor here at The Daily Illini. I also work as Photo Editor for Illini Media’s Illio Yearbook. There is a good chance you will see me out and about on campus taking photos for my personal work or for The DI and/or Illio! If you want to check out more of my work, visit my socials linked below.
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