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Arrests at UMass Amherst pro-Palestinian camp

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Several people were arrested Tuesday evening at a pro-Palestinian camp on the UMass Amherst campus. Video from campus shows dozens of officers approaching protesters on the South Lawn of the Student Union after UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes asked the school’s police to disperse the crowd and break up the encampment. Reyes said it was a last resort after negotiations with student organizations stalled. “If we tell protesters that failure to remove the tents and barriers could lead to arrests, that is not the outcome we want we had hoped for,” Reyes said in a statement. He said the group rejected the board of trustees’ offer to consider its petition to divest investments in defense companies. Students also defied orders to disperse the camp, officials said. It is not clear how many people were arrested. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said it was suspending dozens of students who recaptured a pro-Palestinian camp on campus on Tuesday. MIT’s chancellor sent an email to students saying that dozens of interim suspensions and referrals to the disciplinary committee are currently in progress following Monday’s protest.

AMHERST, Mass. –

Several people were arrested Tuesday evening at a pro-Palestinian camp on the UMass Amherst campus.

Video from campus shows dozens of officers approaching protesters on the South Lawn of the Student Union after UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes asked the school’s police to disperse the crowd and break up the encampment.

Reyes said it was a last resort after negotiations with student organizations stalled.

“The protesters rejected our offers for further civil dialogue to bridge our differences and refused to disperse their camp. “We told protesters that arrests could occur if the tents and barriers were not removed, but that is not the outcome we were hoping for,” Reyes said in a statement.

He said the group rejected the board of trustees’ offer to consider its defense divestment petition.

The students also defied orders to disperse the camp, officials said.

It is not clear how many people were arrested.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced it was suspending dozens of students who recaptured a pro-Palestinian camp on campus on Tuesday.

MIT’s chancellor sent an email to students after Monday’s protest, saying dozens of interim suspensions and referrals to the disciplinary committee were currently in progress.

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