UNC Police want to search Instagram account to find out who damaged building during protest

UNC Police filed a search warrant for the Instagram account of UNC Students for Justice for Palestine [UNC SJP], an activist group on campus in an attempt to determine how the campus South Building got damaged during an anti-Israel protest.

2024-07-12

UNC Chapel Hill police officer Daniel “D.L.” Brown filed the warrant on May 15, days after a group of protesters held a “people’s graduation” ceremony for students who had been banned from graduating due to their pro-Palestinian activism.

Some demonstrators vandalized the South Building with paint and chalk.

UNC Students for Justice for Palestine [UNC SJP] posted to its Instagram page about damage to the building.

Specifically, Brown’s search warrant requests the Instagram account’s “basic subscriber information (BSI) including but not limited to: name, address, phone number, credit card information, account creation information, IP address, direct messages, location data, device data and connection between the dates of May 2 and May 13.”

The warrant states that investigators believe the people behind the Instagram account “planned or participated” in the damage on May 11.

Hashem Amireh, a graduate student who is part of the UNC SJP, said he supports the message that UNC should stop investments that benefit Israel. However, Amireh said the group wasn’t involved in the damage, and they believe the warrant is overreaching.

"The incident that is alleged in the warrant had nothing to do with -- UNC SJP played no role in that incident, even though we support the message that UNC had blood on its hands,” Amireh said. “I think the goal of this is to chill free speech on campus and voices who are willing to call out UNC."

On Friday, WRAL News tried reaching out to university leaders. In a statement, UNC Chapel Hill Media Relations told WRAL the warrant is part of UNC Police's criminal investigation.

“The university supports peaceful demonstrations, but the right to free speech does not include causing considerable damage to a historic building,” senior Director Kevin Best wrote.

“This is part of a pattern to try to suppress pro-Palestine voices on campus,” Amireh said.

Amireh said he has concerns about surveillance.

“UNC is able to get information and surveil students using warrants like this, using a very loose connection that, honestly, makes no sense,” he said.

Amireh said it was “a shock” when he first heard of the search warrant, but said it’s not surprising.

“UNC is trying to throw the book at us with whatever they can to try to silence us, but at the end of the day we feel more empowered than ever,” Amireh said.