Protestors Enter ABC News Contributor’s Office as She is About to Begin Live Interview: ‘What Would You Do If I Didn’t Go?’

ABC News contributor and former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp was prepping for a live interview on Zoom when protestors entered her office at the University of Chicago on Friday.

Pro-Palestine protesters overtook the school’s Institute of Politics in the afternoon and encountered Heitkamp, who is the institute’s director.

Upon reaching her office, they demanded she leave. Much of what the protestors say is inaudible and none of them are seen on camera.

“No, I’m not worried about the cops, you guys,” Heitkamp says to demonstrators.

The protesters’ response is inaudible.

“What would you do if I didn’t go?” Heitkamp asks them. “What would you do if I just —”

A protestor responds with a comment about the police, but again the remark is inaudible.

“Well, I think the cops know who I am,” she replies.

“Yeah, but they’re not going to be looking,” a protestor says. “If they throw tear gas–”

After that, the video feed cuts out. None of the footage aired live.

Heitkamp was preparing to participate in a panel discussion on ABC Live regarding a matter unrelated to Israel and Gaza. She was not harmed.

According to the New York Times, protestors at the university overturned furniture and damaged property. The paper said Heitkamp was the only person in the building at the time.

The protestors said in a statement they took over the Institute of Politics to protest the school’s ties to Israel. Eventually, police cleared the building, though some protestors remained outside.

The Times reported that protestors at the University of Pennsylvania also attempted to occupy a building on campus, but police removed them while making multiple arrests.

The building takeovers were just the latest on-campus demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza, which began after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

Last month, Columbia University administrators requested the NYPD remove protestors from the school’s Hamilton Hall. As police entered the building to clear it, the demonstrators chanted, “Shame!”

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