The UW-Madison Police Department arrested 19 protesters Thursday morning after a Students for Justice in Palestine demonstration disrupted a University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents meeting at Gordon Dining & Event Center, according to a statement from UWPD. 

The protest began at 8:30 a.m., where around 50 participants were present. UW-Madison police and university staff warned the group to stop to which demonstrators refused, according to the statement. 

The meeting resumed after a 15-minute delay, and the 19 arrested individuals were released without citations, but the cases remain under investigation by UWPD and charges could still be issued, according to the statement.

In an Instagram post, SJP condemned the Board of Regents for being complicit in an ongoing genocide.

“The Board of Regents is coming to UW Madison,” SJP said in the post. “Read to learn some of the ways they are complicit in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. If this makes you angry, come join us and let them know they are not welcome here.”

SJP’s demands include divesting university funds from companies linked to Israel. In a September meeting, SJP cited Wisconsin Statute 36.29(1), which prohibits investments in entities engaged in discrimination, as the basis for their push, according to previous reporting from The Badger Herald. 

During the same September meeting, an SJP member said the board uses manipulative and private tactics to invest in genocide, invest in weapons manufacturing and take away from students’ voices, according to previous reporting from The Badger Herald. 

SJP leaders additionally highlighted  UW’s divestment from apartheid South Africa in 1978 under the same statute. 

In another Instagram post following the arrests, SJP urged supporters to contact UWPD and about the arrests and detentions.

The Badger Herald has reached out to the UW Office of University Relations for a comment, and has not received a response as of Saturday, Dec. 7.