About 100 protesters, many of them students, stormed a meeting this morning of the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents, forcing the session to be adjourned, the Star Tribune reported. The protesters were supporting 3,500 unionized clerical, technical, and health-care workers who went on strike there on Wednesday. The demonstrators demanded that the board discuss the union’s contract at the meeting.

The confrontation came to a head when, after the board chair adjourned the meeting, several protesters attempted to block the regents from leaving the room and were handcuffed by university police officers. The police also aimed pepper spray at the demonstrators, but did not use it. Five people were arrested for interfering with public property. After an hourlong adjournment, board members attempted to resume the meeting, but were forced to adjourn again after the remaining protesters erupted with shouts of “Shame on you.”

The board later issued a statement decrying the protesters’ actions. —Matt Petrie