Hundreds arrested in pro-Palestine college protests around the country: What to know

(NEXSTAR) – A wave of pro-Palestinian protest grew even larger this week as college students around the country marched, camped out and, in some cases, were taken into police custody.

By Thursday, police in Boston and Los Angeles said they had arrested protesters at schools in those cities and at least one university announced that it had closed its campus. Protests on Wednesday on the campuses of at least two universities involved clashes with police, while another university shut down its campus for the rest of the week.

Student protests over Israel’s war with Hamas have popped up on an increasing number of college campuses following last week’s arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.

The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself.

Protests on many campuses have been orchestrated by coalitions of student groups. The groups largely act independently, though students say they’re inspired by peers at other universities.

A look at protests on campuses in recent days:

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Pro-Palestinian student protesters set up a tent encampment at the Ivy League university in New York last week. Police first tried to clear the encampment on Thursday, when they arrested more than 100 protesters. But the move backfired, acting as an inspiration for other students across the country and motivating protesters at Columbia to regroup.

University officials said early Wednesday that they were extending a deadline for protesters to clear out. They said the demonstrators had committed to removing a significant number of tents and agreed that only students would remain at the encampment. They also said they would make the encampment more welcoming by banning any discriminatory language or harassing messages. The encampment on the upper Manhattan campus appeared calm and a little smaller on Wednesday morning.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Columbia on Wednesday to meet with Jewish students over concerns about antisemitism on college campuses. Johnson said Israel and Jewish students on campus will not stand alone. Protesters nearby said they couldn’t hear him and he responded, “Enjoy your free speech.”

CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, HUMBOLDT

Students at the university used furniture, tents, chains and zip ties to block entrances to an academic and administrative building on Monday. Protesters chanted, “We are not afraid of you!” before officers in riot gear pushed into them at the building’s entrance, video shows. University officials closed the campus through Wednesday. They said in a statement Tuesday that students had occupied a second building and three students had been arrested. Humboldt is located about 300 miles north of San Francisco.

On Thursday, the university said protesters continued to occupy the two buildings on campus and it was making contingency plans, including possibly keeping campus closed beyond Sunday.

EMERSON COLLEGE

Boston Police confirmed to NewsNation on Thursday that 108 people were arrested at an encampment at Emerson College. Police said four officers suffered injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening. Those arrested were expected to appear in Boston Municipal Court.

On Tuesday, about 80 students and other supporters at Emerson College occupied a busy courtyard on the downtown Boston campus. College officials warned the students on Wednesday that some of the protesters were in violation of city ordinances, including by blocking a right-of-way and fire hydrants, and violating noise laws.

The school said the alley where some protesters have set up tents is owned by the city, and Boston police have warned of imminent law enforcement action. The college said in a statement that campus police were offering escort services for students after officials received credible reports of some protesters engaging in “targeted harassment and intimidation of Jewish supporters of Israel.”

EMORY UNIVERSITY

Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers dismantled a camp on Emory University’s quadrangle Thursday morning, with Associated Press journalists counting at least 17 people detained.

University police had ordered several dozen demonstrators who set up tents on the campus early Thursday morning to leave, according to Emory spokeswoman Laura Diamond. She said in an email to The Associated Press that the group “trespassed” onto the private school.

“These individuals are not members of our community,” Diamond said. “They are activists attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals.”

A long line of officers surrounded the encampment of about three dozen tents after 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, as protesters chanted slogans supporting Palestinians and opposing a public safety training center being built in Atlanta. The two movements are closely entwined in Atlanta, where there has been years of “Stop Cop City” activism that has included a fringe of anarchist attacks on property and the killing by state troopers of a protester who was occupying the site.

When officers in tactical gear began detaining people, some submitted, but others physically pushed back. Those who were detained were handcuffed with zip ties and loaded into a police transport van. Video shows officers at least once used an electrical stun gun on a protester who was handcuffed on the ground.

FASHION INSTITUTE of TECHNOLOGY

A few dozen protesters set up tents and occupied a building Thursday at the Fashion Institute of Technology, part of the public State University of New York system. Protesters sat on the floor or milled around, many wearing face masks and keffiyas. Other protesters outside the building held signs and Palestinian flags. They refused to speak to an Associated Press reporter.

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

About 50 students at George Washington University set up a tent encampment on the school’s University Yard on Thursday.

The protest at the Washington, D.C.-based school grew steadily through the morning, with demonstrators waving Palestinian flags, beating drums and chanting slogans. Later in the day, a group of Georgetown University students and professors staged their own protest walkout and marched to the George Washington campus to join up with the protesters there.

Despite a robust police presence on the edges of the encampment, there were no serious incidents. According to reports on social media, one pro-Israeli protestor waving an Israeli flag attempted to march through the center of the protest but was led away by police.

The protestors are demanding that the university divest from all relations with Israel and lift a suspension against a prominent pro-Palestinian student group.

Dayna Bowen Matthew, dean of the law school, released a video message saying that law school finals, which were set to be held in a building next to the protest encampment, would be moved to another building because of the noise.

The university released a statement saying that peaceful demonstrations were permitted, however people not associated with the university were not allowed to protest on campus. The statement also said that overnight encampments were not allowed on university property and the protesters “will be required to remove tents and disperse” by 7 p.m.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Trying to stay ahead of protests, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, locked most gates into its famous Harvard Yard ahead of classes Monday and limited access to those with school identification.

The school also posted signs warning against setting up tents or tables on campus without permission. Those efforts didn’t stop protesters from setting up a camp with 14 tents Wednesday, which came after a rally against the university’s suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

At New York University, an encampment set up by students swelled to hundreds of protesters earlier this week. Police on Wednesday said that 133 protesters had been taken into custody. They said all were released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges.

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Northwestern University hastily changed its student code of conduct Thursday morning to bar tents on its suburban Chicago campus as anti-war student activists set up an encampment similar to Pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges nationwide.

Groups including Jewish Voice for Peace and Educators for Justice in Palestine said the encampment on the Evanston campus was “a safe space for those who want to show their support of the Palestinian people.” The students want the university to divest from Israel, among other things.

Dozens participated as University President Michael Schill issued an email saying the university had enacted an “interim addendum” to its student code to bar tents, among other things, and warned of disciplinary actions including suspension, expulsion and criminal charges.

“The goal of this addendum is to balance the right to peacefully demonstrate with our goal to protect our community, to avoid disruptions to instruction and to ensure university operations can continue unabated,” Schilling said.

No arrests had been made by Thursday afternoon.

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Two pro-Palestinian students participating in a protest on campus were arrested Tuesday and charged with criminal trespassing, after “repeated warnings to be quiet,” said university spokesperson Ben Johnson.

About 50 protesters had gathered at a campus amphitheater to share stories about their connections to the Palestinian people before marching. While stopping at a building on the university’s medical campus, two individuals became “disruptive,” Johnson said. Per university policy, the students who were arrested will be referred to the student conduct office.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

Protesters at the University of California, Berkeley, had set up about 30 tents as of Tuesday.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

UCLA students assembled tents on the school’s campus Thursday, helicopter footage shows. The makeshift encampment comes one day after police arrested protesters at fellow Los Angeles school USC.

“A day after USC students were attacked and arrested for setting up an encampment on campus, UCLA [Students for Justice in Palestine] has set up on the other side of Los Angeles. LA GET HERE NOW!! Students need your support! #FreePalestine,” activists wrote on X.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

An encampment at the center of the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor had grown to nearly 40 tents on Tuesday. Almost every student there wore a mask, which was handed to them when they entered. Student protesters declined to identify themselves to reporters, saying they feared retribution by the university. One student stood near the encampment passing out small flags of Israel, saying he didn’t want Jewish students walking through campus to only see the protesters.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar attended a protest at the University of Minnesota on Tuesday, hours after nine protesters were arrested when police took down an encampment in front of the library. Hundreds had rallied to demand their release. Omar’s daughter was among the demonstrators arrested at Columbia last week.

On Wednesday, more than 80 professors and assistant professors signed a letter calling on the University of Minnesota’s president to drop any charges, lift any ban on the arrestees’ presence on campus and to allow future encampments.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

The Los Angeles Police Department said 93 people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest at the University of Southern California. There were no reports of injuries.

Video reviewed by Nexstar’s KTLA showed an officer whipping out a baton. Helicopter video showed students surrounding a police vehicle which they believed had a wrongly detained student inside.

Police had been removing tents erected by student protesters. USC Public Safety Assistant Chief David Carlisle told KTLA while students have the right to protest, they are not allowed to camp on school property.

The school ended up closing its campus to the public Wednesday afternoon, restricting access only to students, NewsNation reported. On Thursday, USC announced it would be canceling its main graduation ceremony.

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN

Fifty-seven people were booked into jail following a student walkout and demonstration on the UT Austin campus Wednesday, Nexstar’s KXAN reported. Protesters gathered at the Travis County Jail to call for their release, as some of those detained were let go Thursday morning.

A local photojournalist covering the protests was among those arrested.

Protesters said they had planned a walkout and march to the main campus lawn, where students would occupy the space and host events throughout the afternoon. But the university said in a statement that it would “not tolerate disruptions” like those at other campuses.

The state’s Department of Public Safety told KXAN it was called to the campus “at the request of the University and at the direction of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in order to prevent any unlawful assembly and to support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including criminal trespass.”

Gov. Abbott said on X that the protesters belong in jail, and that any student who joins what he called hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in the state should be expelled.

On Thursday, university officials pulled back the campus barricades and allowed another demonstration involving students and some faculty on the main square underneath the school’s iconic clock tower in central campus. The group was also protesting the Wednesday arrests.

While the group was vocal with chants and angry shouts against Israel and campus leadership, the demonstration was far less volatile. No violence erupted as a small group of campus police watched from the steps of the tower building. The gathering lasted about two hours.

YALE UNIVERSITY

Protests continued Thursday at Yale, though the number of students involved has visibly shrunk since Monday when 48 people, including 44 students were arrested and charged with trespassing after camping out for several days on Beinecke Plaza.

The vast majority of those arrested were charged with trespassing. Classes for the semester at the New Haven, Connecticut-based school are scheduled to end on Friday, with final exams May 2 through 8.

What are students demanding?

The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself.

Protests on many campuses have been orchestrated by coalitions of student groups, often including local chapters of organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. They’re banding together as umbrella groups, such as MIT’s Coalition Against Apartheid and the University of Michigan’s Tahrir Coalition. The groups largely act independently, though students say they’re inspired by peers at other universities.

The demands vary from campus to campus. Among them:

• Stop doing business with military weapons manufacturers that are supplying arms to Israel.
• Stop accepting research money from Israel for projects that aid the country’s military efforts.
• Stop investing college endowments with money managers who profit from Israeli companies or contractors.
• Be more transparent about what money is received from Israel and what it’s used for.

Student governments at some colleges in recent weeks have passed resolutions calling for an end to investments and academic partnerships with Israel. Such bills were passed by student bodies at Columbia, Harvard Law, Rutgers and American University.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.