Police arrest dozens as they break up pro-Palestinian protests at several US universities

Police made dozens of arrests pro-Palestinian protest camps were dispersed at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday, hours after police tear gassed protesters and dismantled a similar encampment at the University of Arizona.

Philadelphia and Penn campus police took action around daybreak to clear protesters from an encampment that had existed for more than two weeks. School officials said the protesters were warned and given the opportunity to leave the school without being arrested. About 33 people, including faculty members and seven students, were among those arrested and charged with trespassing, the school said.

Protest camps have sprung up across the United States and the United States Europe in recent weeks as students demand their universities Stop doing business with Israel or companies supporting its war efforts. Organizers want to step up calls for an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which they describe as a genocide against Palestinians. The The United Nations Supreme Court has come to this conclusion There is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza – a charge that Israel firmly rejects.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, police in riot gear arrived at MIT around 4 a.m., surrounded the camp and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. Ten remaining students were arrested, the university’s president said. A crowd outside the camp began chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but quickly dispersed.

At the University of Arizona in Tucson, campus police in riot gear fired tear gas at protesters late Thursday – a day before the school’s main commencement ceremony – before dismantling an encampment equipped with wooden and plastic barriers. According to the school, police vehicles were spiked and rocks and water bottles were thrown at officers and university staff. Two people were arrested, a university spokesman said. Friday evening commencement will continue, university President Robert Robbins said.

And at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, police arrested 13 people Thursday night for refusing to leave a damaged and destroyed building. The charges ranged from trespassing to assault on a peace officer, school spokeswoman Amanda Bradford said. The building, Hadley Hall, was vacated and opened Friday.

Protesters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison agreed Friday to permanently disband their two-week-old encampment and not disrupt graduation ceremonies this weekend in exchange for the opportunity to engage with “decision makers” by July 1 who control the university’s investments The university agreed to increase support for scholars and students affected by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

Graduates from Pomona College in Southern California will have to travel 40 miles (65 km) for their graduation ceremony on Sunday as the administration tries to avoid a recent encampment. The college said it would provide transportation to the venue, a historic theater in Los Angeles. In April, demonstrators broke into an administration building and police arrested 20 people.

The protest movement began almost three weeks ago Columbia University in New York City. Some colleges across the country immediately cracked down, while others tolerated the demonstrations. Some have recently begun calling police, citing concerns about disruption to campus life and safety.

The Associated Press has recorded at least 75 cases of arrests during protests on US campuses since April 18. Nearly 2,900 people were arrested at 57 colleges and universities. The numbers are based on AP reports and statements from schools and law enforcement.

Although their camp was evacuated after two weeks, George Washington University protesters vowed Friday to continue their protest campaign.

Police arrested 33 people on Wednesday as they evacuated the original camp. The next evening, about five blocks from the White House, a crowd of chanting protesters returned to the university and set up tents as a large force from the Metropolitan Police Department gathered. After several warnings to disperse, protest leaders ended the demonstration around midnight. One person was arrested for throwing water at a police officer.

The move at MIT came several days after police first attempted to clear the camp, only to see protesters storming past barriers and restore the campwhich includes about a dozen tents in the heart of the Cambridge campus.

Before the camp was disbanded, MIT began suspending dozens of students earlier this week, meaning they will be barred from academic activities or starting classes.

The protesters insist they will continue to demand that MIT cut all ties with the Israeli military. The camp was closed for weeks, particularly angering Jewish students who held counter-protests nearby.

“This will only make us stronger. They can’t stop the movement,” said Quinn Perian, a student and organizer with MIT Jews for Ceasefire. “MIT would rather arrest and suspend some students than end their complicity in the Gaza genocide.”

MIT President Sally Kornbluth wrote in a letter confirming Friday’s arrests that it was her responsibility “to ensure that the campus is physically safe and functional for everyone … and that everyone feels free to express their opinions.” .” The camp, she wrote, “made it increasingly impossible to fulfill all of these obligations.”

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Associated Press journalists Christopher L. Keller, Scott Sonner and Scott Bauer contributed to this report.