Police Arrest 13 After Protesters Occupied Stanford President’s Office

Police officers arrested 13 people on Wednesday after pro-Palestinian protesters barricaded themselves in the office of the president of Stanford University and demanded that administrators meet several demands, including a vote by the university trustees on whether to divest from companies that are said to support Israel’s military.

The administration offices, located in Building 10, were cleared within about three hours, according to Dee Mostofi, a campus spokeswoman, who said that there was “extensive damage.” Several walls and pillars on the exterior were covered in graffiti that criticized the police, Stanford and Israel.

Protesters had entered the building around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and university police officers arrived at the scene after they were alerted of the occupation, according to Ms. Mostofi. The building houses the offices of the university’s president, Richard Saller, and provost, Jenny Martinez, among others.

One officer was injured during the arrests, Ms. Mostofi said, adding that any students who were arrested will be suspended and those who are seniors will not be allowed to graduate.

“We are appalled that our students chose to take this action, and we will work with law enforcement to ensure that they face the full consequences allowed by law,” Ms. Mostofi said in a statement.

Wednesday is the final day of classes for the spring quarter at Stanford. Shortly after the morning arrests, law enforcement officials began dismantling a Pro-Palestinian encampment that had stood since late April on a campus plaza, as well as a pro-Israel display that had been established nearby.

Pro-Palestinian protests have roiled college campuses across the country this spring, and more than 3,000 people have been arrested or detained.

The situation, on the whole, had been calmer at Stanford than at other large universities in California. In recent weeks, a melee erupted at the University of California, Los Angeles when counterprotesters attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment, and demonstrators occupied an administration building for a week at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.

Most encampments at other campuses have been cleared by law enforcement officers or have been dismantled by protesters who reached agreements with administrators as the academic year came to a close.

At Stanford, a protest group that called itself the People’s University for Palestine encampment, said in a statement early Wednesday that its members had occupied Building 10 and intended to remain there until the university met several demands. The group called on the Stanford Board of Trustees to consider next week whether to divest from companies — including Hewlett-Packard, Lockheed Martin and Chevron — that the protesters say provide material and logistical support to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

The protesters also demanded that Dr. Saller support the divestment proposal, disclose all of the holdings in Stanford’s endowment and drop all disciplinary measures against Pro-Palestinian student activists.