May 7 (Punjab Khabarnama) : An Arizona State University senior choked up over missing graduation after being arrested and suspended for trespassing during an anti-Israel protest. “I’m being restricted from a lot of things right now that I didn’t expect to be for standing up for something I believe in,” Breanna Brocker told ABC15 in tears.
“You know I have family coming in who I have to let them know not come to my graduation ceremonies,” she added. “I’m just disappointed. I’m a 2020 high school grad, so I wasn’t able to walk then. So, you know, here it is. I’m not able to walk now.”
Brocker said she will be handed a degree and will be allowed to finish classes. It is unclear under what circumstances she will graduate. Several students at ASU have been arrested over pro-Palestinian protests.
Brocker said that despite everything, she will not stop taking part in such protests. “I was doing what I believed was right and I still believe it to be right. I would stand up for the cause again, even if it means something negative for me,” she said.
So much harm has been done to all of those people already. I am safe, I am fine. I may not [walk at graduation] and that might harm future job prospects and stuff like that, but I’m not in physical danger. I am not constantly worried about being hurt or being forced from my home or anything like that,” she added.
The video of Broker’s interview was shared on X by ABC15 reporter Ben Brown.
‘For the first time, she’s actually learning something from college’
Many users flocked to the comment section to blast Brocker, with one user saying, “This is the first time in her life that her actions had consequences.” “Her suspension didn’t cause her to miss her final, her atrocious BEHAVIOR did,” one user said, while another wrote, “The school warned them all what would happen. They just chose not to listen.”
“Always whining about their free speech being violated or “just standing up for something” when in fact these students’ encampment went far beyond a protest violating university policy. The university stated they warned the students over 20 times,” one user wrote. “It’s real fun to be all caught up in the cause du jour, feeling enlightened and important, but sure does suck to suffer the consequences of your actions. Boo hoo,” said one user, while another wrote, “and for the first time, she’s actually learning something from college.”
