Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest around DePaul University campus over war in Gaza​on March 7, 2025 at 5:47 am

CHICAGO (WLS) — There was a protest Thursday at DePaul University in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.

A pro-Palestinian group held a demonstration just outside the quad.

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Around 4:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, about a dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators attempted to access the quad to stage a protest. They were met by officers, who blocked their entry using bicycles.

The protest ended around 5:30 p.m., but there remained a noticeable presence of Chicago police and DePaul security in and around the quad.

Those protesters are from a group called “Behind Enemy Lines,” which has been banned by DePaul from the campus because the school said the organization promotes violence. The group denies that, and so the planned protest was promoted as an act of defiance against the ban.

The planned demonstration had drawn concerns from some students, including some Jewish students, and so the university and CPD had that robust presence.

“It shows what the university values, which is not debate, not free expression, not exposing their students to different ideas, not Catholic values,” said Michael Boyte with Behind Enemy Lines.

The hour-long protest was peaceful, though at one point ABC7 saw three people on the quad holding pro-Palestinian signs being confronted by school officials. One of them told ABC7 he is a DePaul student and showed his student ID, but when he refused to allow his ID To be photographed, they were asked by school officials to leave the quad, which they did.

In a statement, the university said in part, “we will enforce DePaul’s policies to keep our students safe and ensure… this group does not gather on DePaul property… at DePaul, every student has the right to feel safe and secure on campus.”

The university also said It continues have increased safety patrols on campus.