INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter on Tuesday said he wants protesters to understand when rhetoric crosses into the category of hate speech.

Carter told News 8 state troopers went to the Indiana University Bloomington campus last week after the IU Police Department requested assistance. He said he personally went down as well, watched the protests and even interacted with some of the protesters. The IU Bloomington campus is one of dozens that have seen pro-Palestinian protests in recent weeks.

Police arrested 33 people at Dunn Meadow on Thursday and another 23 on Saturday. Carter said they were arrested after IU officials determined they were trespassing. He said an IU police officer gave the demonstrators a clear warning, and officers gave them about 15 minutes to disperse. He said officers only made arrests after repeated warnings.

“We tried so hard to rationalize, imploring, begging them, please, let’s deescalate this today, let’s take a moment to step back from this,” he said.

Protesters have criticized the state police for posting snipers on rooftops overlooking Dunn Meadow. Carter said they were there to provide “overwatch” in case of any act of violence, particularly a mass shooting. He said the state police deploys snipers for any large-scale event.

“Coming with a weapon of some kind into a protest of people, the only way to deal with that threat would be from above,” he said. “I regret that I didn’t do a better job there, and I understand the consternation because of it.”

Carter said he’s especially troubled by the antisemitic rhetoric he heard at the protest. He said he’s never heard anything like it in his 40 years in law enforcement. He said state troopers will protect protesters’ right to free speech, but the protesters need to understand the difference between legitimate debate and hate speech. Carter said state police are investigating multiple antisemitic threats that have been made, though he would not provide specifics.

“We will protect the Jewish population, or the Palestinian population, or anybody in between as long as they live within the guidelines of the rule of law,” he said. “There seems to be an issue to try to fragment all of this into this group and that group. I really think that’s a dangerous thing to do.”

On Tuesday night, Günther Jikeli, associate director, of the Indiana University Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and an associate professor in the Borns Jewish Studies Program and
Germanic Studies, issues a news release. It said a “rally against Hamas” will happen at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Showalter Fountain on the IU Bloomington campus.