The front of a leaflet distributed in Norlin Library on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Jessi Sachs/CU Independent)
Around 1:30 p.m. on Friday, the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department received notice of the distribution of leaflets throughout Norlin Libray. The leaflets, designed to bring awareness to the war in Gaza, mimicked evacuation orders that are sometimes dropped by the Israeli Defense Forces before attacking an area.
The back of a leaflet distributed in Norlin Library on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Jessi Sachs/CU Independent)
The top of each paper — distributed en masse throughout the library on the university’s reading day, a day designated for students to prepare for upcoming finals — read “immediate evacuation notice to all occupants of this facility.”
The papers claimed that the library had been “designated for destruction as part of ongoing operations to secure control over vital assets” and would be “struck by air” imminently. In the bottom corner, a disclaimer stated that the notice was not real.
Despite the disclaimer, CUPD is investigating the incident.
“The CU Boulder Police Department is investigating to determine if any criminal charges are warranted,” said Christine Mahoney, the director of communications for the university’s Division of Public Safety. “The university takes all threats, even those labeled as ‘not real’ seriously.”
Mahoney said that the incident also violated the Campus Use of University Facilities policy regarding canvassing, which states that “No person engaged in Canvassing may leave literature, flyers, samples, promotional items, coupons or any other tangible items behind or unattended anywhere on the campus.”
The back of each leaflet drew a connection between the war in Gaza and CU Boulder.
“The same tools of war used to destroy Gaza are built and funded with complicity from institutions like ours,” the papers said.
Since the long-fought conflict heightened last fall, some students and faculty members at CU Boulder have pushed for the university to break ties to the war, including through severing connections with corporations such as Lockheed Martin and RTX and divestment.
For the last year, Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine has largely been at the forefront of these protests, calling for divestment and other changes to university policy.
On Friday morning, Boulder SJP hosted a “study-in” called “Occupy Norlin,” but the organization claims they were not involved in the incident.
“Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine would like to make it clear that our organization was not involved in this action, and we are alarmed by its disturbing nature,” the organization wrote in a statement to the CU Independent. “This incident is not representative of the values we uphold as an organization committed to non-violence and thoughtful dialogue.”
As of Saturday afternoon, CUPD says it is not clear who distributed the papers and asks any students with information regarding the incident to call 303-492-6666 regarding case #2024-2540.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Contact CU Independent Editor-in-Chief Jessi Sachs at jessica.sachs@colorado.edu
