AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Hours after University of Texas police actively detained dozens of people in recent clashes between law enforcement and protesters, police arrested a University of Southern California student on Wednesday. Peacefully arrested protesters. israel-hamas war on campuses across the country.
Tensions escalated between police and demonstrators at the University of Southern California earlier in the day, but by the evening dozens of demonstrators standing in a circle with their arms locked were seen one after another without incident. was restrained.
Police surrounded the group as they ignored warnings that they would be arrested if they did not disperse. Beyond police lines, hundreds of onlookers watched as helicopters soared overhead. The school closed its campus.
Students protest at an encampment outside Kresge Auditorium on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Universities struggling to quell the unrest quickly turned to law enforcement, but the arrests in California were in sharp contrast to the chaos that erupted hours earlier at the University of Texas at Austin.
Hundreds of local and state police, some on horseback and carrying batons, barged into the demonstrators, causing some to fall onto the street. According to the state Department of Public Safety, officers arrested 34 people on orders from the university and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
A photographer covering a protest for Fox 7 Austin was pulled backwards to the ground by a police officer during a push and pull, video shows. The department confirmed that the cameraman had been arrested. A longtime Texas journalist collapsed during the commotion and was seen bleeding before police and emergency medical staff rescued him.
Texas student Dane Urquhart, a third-year student, called the police presence and arrests an “overreaction,” adding that the protests “would have continued peacefully” if police had not been called in. Ta.
“I think there will be more (demonstrations) because everyone has been arrested,” Urquhart said.
After several hours of quelling the crowd, police left, and about 300 demonstrators returned to sit on the lawn and sing together under the school's iconic clock tower.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in front of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Berkeley, California (AP Photo/Haven Daily)
“Our rules are important and will be enforced. Our university will not be occupied,” university President Jay Hartzell said in a statement Wednesday night.
North at USC Humboldt, students holed up inside a building for three days, and the school closed its campus through the weekend and held classes virtually.
Harvard University in Massachusetts tried to pre-empt the protests this week by restricting access to Harvard Yard and requiring permits for tents and tables. That didn't stop protesters from setting up a camp with 14 tents on Wednesday in response to a rally against the university's suspension of Harvard University's Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.
student protest against israel and hamas war demands Schools sever economic ties Retreat to Israel and withdraw from the companies that have enabled months of conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have taken on an anti-Semitic bent, making them afraid to set foot on campus, which has also led to stronger university responses.
At New York University this week, police said 133 protesters were detained, and on Monday more than 40 protesters were arrested at the Yale University encampment.
Columbia University Avoided another showdown The incident took place between students and police early Wednesday. University President Minoush Shafiq had set a midnight deadline Tuesday to reach an agreement on clearing the encampment, but the university extended negotiations and said it would continue consultations with protesters for another 48 hours. .
Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who visited campus on Wednesday, called on Shafik to resign “if he cannot bring order to this chaos.”
“If this is not contained quickly and these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there will be an appropriate time for the National Guard,” he said.
On Wednesday night, a Columbia University spokesperson said rumors that the university had threatened to bring in the National Guard were unfounded. “Our focus is on restoring order, and if that can be accomplished through dialogue, we will do so,” said Ben Chan, Columbia's vice president for public affairs.
On Monday, April 22, 2024, New York City Police Department officers arrested a pro-Palestinian protester outside a student-led encampment at New York University. (AP Photo/Noreen Nasir)
Omer Rubaton Granot, a graduate student at Columbia University who posted photos of Israeli hostages near the camp, said he wanted to remind people that there are more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas. .
“I see everyone behind me advocating for human rights,” he said. “I don't think they can say anything about the fact that people their age who were kidnapped from their homes and music festivals in Israel are being held by terrorist organizations.”
Tara Alfoqaha, a Palestinian Harvard law student, said she and other protesters want more transparency from the university.
“My hope is that Harvard officials will listen to what students have been asking for all year, including divestment, disclosure, and the dropping of all charges against them,” she said. Told.
Police attempted to clear the Colombian encampment for the first time last week, arresting more than 100 protesters. The move backfired, inspiring other students across the country to set up similar encampments and motivating protesters at Columbia University to reunite.
On Wednesday, about 60 tents remained at the Colombian encampment, which appeared calm. Security remained tight around campus, with ID required and police setting up metal barricades.
The Colombian government said it had agreed with protest representatives that only students would remain in the camps, that discriminatory or harassing language would be prohibited, and that the camps would be welcoming.
Dozens of students rallied on the University of Minnesota campus a day after police took control of an encampment in front of the library and arrested nine protesters. U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose daughter was among the protesters arrested in Colombia last week, joined the protest later in the day.
A group of more than 80 professors and assistant professors signed a letter Wednesday calling on the university's president and other administrators to drop the charges and allow future camps absent what they call police retaliation. .
They wrote, “We are horrified that the administration would allow such a blatant violation of students' rights to freely oppose the genocide and ongoing occupation of Palestine.”
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Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire. Contributing to this report were Joey Cappelletti, Will Weissert, Larry Rage, Steve LeBlanc, Dave Collins, Jim Salter, Haven Daley, Jesse Bedine, John Antoczak, Julie Walker and Joseph -They were Associated Press journalists from various locations, including Krauss.
