Thomas Breen photo
The Beinecke Plaza flagpole on Wednesday.
A Yale graduate student allegedly spent 23 minutes working to release the rope and lower the American flag in Beinecke Plaza during the first night of a pro-Palestinian tent encampment.
A week later Yale police arrested that graduate student for vandalizing university property — with repair costs for the “damaged” flagpole estimated at more than $9,100.
That’s according to a three-page arrest warrant affidavit written by Yale Police Officer Erik St. Germain on April 26.
The Independent obtained a copy of the warrant on Tuesday. Beshouy Botros, a 28-year-old Yale PhD student who was arrested on Monday, was arraigned in state court Tuesday on one felony count of first-degree criminal mischief.
They were released on a promise to appear, have not yet entered a plea, and are next scheduled to appear in court on May 9.
Botros and their lawyer, Alex Taubes, declined to comment for this story.
According to the warrant, YPD Officer Erik St. Germain was on duty in Beinecke Plaza from 6 p.m. on Friday, April 19 through 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 20. “During this time, there was an active protest taking place within Beinecke Plaza which hosts a large flagpole, an oversized American flag and war memorial.”
The protest in question was night one of a student-led, pro-Palestinian tent encampment that university and city police wound up clearing three days later, early in the morning of Monday, April 22. As part of that tent clearing, Yale police arrested 48 people, including 44 Yale students, on charges of criminal trespassing.
During the first night of the encampment on Friday, St. Germain wrote in the warrant, “one of the protesters disconnected the rope on the pole, and purposely forced the American flag to fall, and remain on the ground, sustaining multiple footprints and damage.” The flag was pulled to the ground at around 11:27 p.m., and was “retrieved and appropriately secured” at around 11:30 p.m.
The warrant details how Yale police used “closed-circuit television footage” to figure out what allegedly happened.
It states that video footage showed, at around 11:04 p.m., a person wearing a “dark jacket, dark pants, light gray shoes, and a blue scarf” entering Beinecke Plaza. That person “quickly” entered the plaza and walked directly to the flagpole, where they “began manipulating the rope which was affixed to the pole.”
The person, later identified as Botros, “spent twenty-three minutes attempting to release the rope.” At 11:27 p.m., they “successfully disengaged the rope and the American flag rapidly fell to the ground, sustaining damages from the release and subsequently being dragged on the pavement.” The warrant describes the flag as being ten feet by 15 feet large, and as worth around $300.
Yale police used video footage from the protest and photos in Yale’s online database to identify the alleged flagpole tamperer as Botros. Officer St. Germain wrote that he tried to call the student using the phone number Yale had on file for them, but was not able to get through.
On April 25, another Yale police officer spoke with John-Paulo Fernandes, Yale’s director of plant operations and planning facilities, who was responsible for restoring the flagpole at Beinecke Plaza.
Fernandes and the officer discussed “the intricate task of repairing and restoring” the damaged property.
Fernandes provided a work-order estimate for repairing the flagpole. That included $270.30 for the flag, $6,916.68 for “lift rental and labor,” $500 for “operations labor,” $300 for “rope with material,” and $1,200 for “rope with steel wire and installation.” The total estimated cost: $9,186.97.
Fernandes said that the reason for ordering two ropes “is due to the preferred ‘Rope with Steel Wire’ option has a status of ‘Backordered’ for approximately six weeks. Director Fernandes stated the ‘Rope with Material’ was purchased to serve as a temporary solution until the preferred option is available, which will allow for the American flag to be restored to its proper position in a timely manner.”
Thomas Breen file photo
In Beinecke Plaza during the April 19 encampment ...
... and on Wednesday, with flag returned.