BATON ROUGE - Several LSU students protesting during the presidential search committee meeting on campus were taken into custody Wednesday.

WBRZ was at the meeting where student Gabriela Juarez was forcefully removed by LSUPD officers while wearing a shirt that said "NO MAGA PRESIDENT." She and other students were protesting appointments to the LSU Board of Supervisors by Gov. Jeff Landry. 

Juarez was speaking during the public comment section of the meeting and went over her time before being escorted out by officers and put into a police car.

"She went over time on that comment, and instead of being reprimanded by the chair or anything like that, she was forcibly removed by LSU PD. Two officers grabbed her," student protester Hayden Welk said. 

Students chanted "shame on you" as she was taken out of the meeting. Outside, students were placed into handcuffs for blocking the LSUPD vehicle that Juarez was in.

"We had people block the car to demand her release for this outrageous injustice," student protester Zane Sutor-Benfield said.

The students say they were protesting the lack of student input on the LSU Presidential Search Committee.

"We have a voice here, we deserve to be heard and we have nothing to be afraid of, and so we just weren't going to allow one of our fellow students to be taken away without putting up some sort of effort to find out where she is, where she's going," Ryan Spalt said.

The students say they would like to see five additional students on the committee who are elected by the student body, along with the top three candidates being voted on by students.

"The search committee currently has one student on it, and this one student does not attend the Baton Rouge campus. She goes to the Shreveport medical campus," Margo Wilson said.

A WBRZ crew on campus said six students that were taken into custody and put in a holding cell have been released. Those six individually face various charges, including obstruction of highway commerce, resisting an officer, and prohibition of interference with educational process. Juarez was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for resisting an officer and prohibition of interference with educational process. 

"I think that for us to be dragged out and kicked out of the meeting shows a lot about what the school thinks about free speech, and who they think can have free speech," Enola Guyer said.

"LSU fully supports lawful free expression. During today’s Presidential Search Committee meeting, everyone had the opportunity to register, speak, and be heard during the public-comment period, which was limited to remarks related to the posted agenda," Todd Woodward, Vice President of LSU Marketing & Communications, said in a statement.

In their statement, LSU said one person was arrested for "[exceeding] the time limit" and "[refusing] lawful directives" despite multiple warnings, and the other six were arrested for "interfering with that lawful arrest."

"In situations like this, our priority is the safety of all participants and the orderly conduct of university functions," Woodward said.