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Jack Louis Nimz
Jack Louis Nimz, also known as Celia Nimz, was arrested and charged with rioting, trespassing, and damage to property during an anti-Israel protest at the University of Minnesota (U of M) during Israel's war against Hamas in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped hundreds and wounded thousands. War crimes included mass rape and torture. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.” For more information, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
The protest was organized by the U of M Students for a Democratic Society (umnsds) and supported by Students For Justice in Palestine (sjpumn).
On September 6, 2024, the Minnesota Daily reported that Nimz was a "University SDS chapter alum and current member of their national organizational team."
On December 5, 2024, the Fulcrum reported that Nimz was the "newly elected president of Students for a Democratic Society."
Nimz is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Nimz has also engaged in anti-Israel activism as an organizer for the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). FRSO's Instagram account says: "Revolution. Socialism. Liberation" and its bio reads: "FRSO is a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist organization in the U.S."
In August 2023, Nimz was identified as a representative of FRSO who spread hatred of the police speaking at a pride event in Minneapolis.
On December 5, 2024, the Fulcrum reported that Nimz worked as a high school teacher in Minnesota.
As of January 9, 2025, the Minnesota Educator Licensing and Standards Board listed Nimz as a "Short Call Substitute Teacher" for "Pre K to Adult" students, License No. 1015347, expiration date: 06/30/2025.
Nimz graduated from the University of Minnesota (U of M) with a bachelor's degree in history in 2021. U of M is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On October 21, 2024, Jack Louis Nimz was arrested by the University of Minnesota (U of M) police department and charged with rioting, trespassing, and damage to property.
On the same day, U of M Students for a Democratic Society (umnsds) posted on Instagram: "SUPPORT STUDENTS OCCUPYING MORRILL HALL...to demand that the University of Minnesota DIVEST from the genocidal Israel and all weapon companies complicit...#palestine #divest #intifada." A flyer included in the post read: "UMN COMMUNITY OCCUPIES [sic] MORRILL HALL / RENAMES IT HALIMY HALL..."
The building takeover was
by U of M's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (umnsds) and supported by U of M's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (sjpumn), which posted on Instagram: "UMN STUDENTS OCCUPY HISTORIC MORRILL HALL FOR PALESTINE 
...UMN STUDENTS DEMAND COMPLETE DIVESTMENT FROM ISRAELI WEAPONS AND BONDS, ISRAELI UNIVERSITIES AND WEAPONS STOCK...LIBERATION IS NEAR !!"
The post included a video captioned: "UMN STUDENTS HAVE OCCUPIED MORRILL HALL !! !! !!" and showed a small group of students supporting the building takeover, led by a woman wearing a red keffiyeh and shouting into a megaphone while pacing back and forth in front of a large, green banner with white text that read: "MONEY FOR EDUCATION / NOT FOR BOMBS & OCCUPATION."
On October 21, 2024, CrimeWatchMpls posted on X: "...From the occupation of UMN campus." Included in the post were photos that the entrance and exit doors of Morrill Hall sealed shut with a metal bike lock and bungee cords, and blocked by furniture.
Also on October 21, 2024, a user posted on X: "Pro-Palestine protesters at the University of Minnesota have barricaded the entrances to Morrill, the administrative building." The post included a photo of students, faces hidden by keffiyehs wrapped around their heads, moving furniture down the building hallway. A second photo showed a doorway pulled shut by ropes and blockaded by furniture, which prevented staff from leaving the building, and damaged property.
On October 21, 2024, following the arrests, U of M issued a statement about the protest and arrests that said: "Once inside the building, protesters began spray painting, including covering lenses of all internal security cameras, breaking interior windows, and barricading the building’s entrance and exit points. The full extent of the damage is unknown. A number of staff were working in the building at the time, and several people were not able to exit...for an extended period of time. To ensure the safety of U of M employees in the building who were unable to exit, and in light of property damage sustained to the building, University of Minnesota Police Department [UMPD] was called to the scene...With necessary support from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, UMPD...arrested 11 people..."
On October 23, 2024, FRSO posted a video on Instagram of Nimz speaking after being released from the Hennepin County jail. Nimz, wearing a keffiyeh, said: "...Me and ten others were just released from jail here. We were arrested after we occupied the administration's building on campus and renamed it Halimy Hall in solidarity with the people of Palestine and the people of Gaza...free Palestine!"
On October 30, 2024, Campus Reform reported that Nimz was one of 11 "anti-Israel agitators" arrested on October 21, 2024 after taking over Morrill Hall at U of M on charges of "damage to property, riot, and trespassing."
Of the 11 individuals arrested, umnsds posted on Instagram that seven students were found guilty.
On November 28, 2024, umnsds on Instagram: "U OF MN HALIMY HALL STUDENTS SUSPENDED FOR UP TO 2.5 YEARS!"
The post continued: "...the [7] students were found guilty on all charges...As punishment, the administration has decided that all 7 students must pay over $5,500 each in restitution and will be suspended starting January 1st..."
The post also stated that: "...the University "intends to withhold the transcripts of those arrested" and stated that "students have to do 20 hours of community service and write a 5-10 page essay about the 'difference between vandalism and protest.'"
On April 23, 2024, University of Minnesota (U of M) students and anti-Israel activists set up a pro-Hamas "Solidarity Encampment" on the university's main lawn, which lasted until May 2, 2024. Activists protested Israel's war against Hamas and demanded that the university divest from Israel.
The encampment was one of over 140 pro-Hamas and anti-Israel college encampments set up in North America, and over 20 more globally, in the spring of 2024. The encampments were unofficially known as the "student intifada," borrowing a term associated with terrorist violence.
On April 23, 2024, at the end of the first day of the U of M encampment, Nimz was featured in a video posted on Instagram, representing the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), in which "Celia from FRSO gives an update from the University of Minnesota Palestine Solidarity Encampment." In the video Nimz detailed the demands of the encampment: "...an end to Israeli genocide in Gaza... [and] that the University cut all ties with Israel...and...end...U.S. aid to Israel."
On May 18, 2024, FRSO posted a video of Nimz speaking at a protest held outside a Republican Party fundraiser in St. Paul, Minnesota. Nimz, wearing an FRSO shirt and keffiyeh, led the protesters in a responsive chant saying [00:02:41]: "There is only one solution, [Intifada] revolution, [Intifada] revolution!"
On September 6, 2024, the Minnesota Daily reported on a September 5th protest in which Nimz participated. The article said the protest "...was mostly led by members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)..." and was against a resolution passed by the University Board of Regents for "institutional neutrality" that would make investments on "solely financial criteria."
The article reported that this protest was the first under U of M's "newly reinforced...protest policy that set limits on attendance without a permit, poster size, and sound equipment" and was organized by the UMN Divestment Coalition.
The article said that about 50 protesters (students, faculty, staff, and community members) reportedly chanted: "Board of Regents you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!" The hour-long protest involved a march, a "die-in" and speakers, including U of M professor and terror supporter Sima Shakhsari.
Nimz was identified in the article as "..a University SDS chapter alum and current member of their national organizational team..." The article said that Nimz, in response to being asked if SDS planned to abide by the University's protest guidelines said: "Absolutely not."
On August 16, 2023, FRSO posted on TikTok a video of Nimz at a pride parade as a representative of FRSO. Nimz, dressed in a red tube top and shorts, stood on top of a flatbed truck with a mic and said [00:00:10]: "We are a revolutionary and Marxist, Leninist organization and to bring liberation and revolution from the people, from our-- against our enemies, who are the cops..."
Nimz continued [00:00:45]: "...the only time the police had a place at pride, they were getting beaten back by the militant fists of the people." Followed by cheers in the crowd, Nimz continued [00:000:59]: "...and now cops continue to maintain a system of racist violence...cops need to be held accountable for their racist violence...and they do not belong at pride! They belong in f**king jail cells for what they have done!"
Nimz concluded with leading the crowd in a responsive chant [00:03:19]: "...when I say 'Cops and corporations at pride,' you say 'Get the f**k out!...'"
