Police arrest 130 people at UMass Amherst; According to the college, protesters refused to dismantle the camp

AMHERST – Police arrested about 130 people at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Tuesday evening after the school said pro-Palestinian protesters had refused to dismantle a camp on campus and leave the area.

The camp on the Student Union’s South Lawn is the second camp to be set up on the Amherst campus this semester, student newspaper The Daily Collegian reported. Tent camps inspired by protesters Columbia University showed up on the university campus in Massachusetts and across the country.

Protest organizers in Amherst told WBZ-TV that their demonstration was a response to Israel Seizure of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. A senior Biden administration official told CBS News that the White House has taken the position that Israel “should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah,” where 1.3 million Palestinians are currently staying.

Protesters report injuries after arrests

Student protest organizer Malia Cole said students were handcuffed, thrown into the back of police cars, arrested and charged. She claimed some even suffered injuries.

“You mistreated your own students last night for peacefully protesting,” Cole said to the university’s chancellor, Javier Reyes. “Their hands go numb from the handcuffs being too tight, to rashes on their hands and stomach from being thrown on the ground.”

The school has not confirmed any injuries, but issued a statement Wednesday saying about 130 students were arrested over illegal encampments only after oral negotiations failed. Both state and campus police responded.

“Although we communicated to protesters that failure to remove the tents and barriers could result in arrests, this is not the outcome we were hoping for,” Reyes said in a statement.

“You are a disgrace to a human being, you are a disgrace to the history of this university and you must resign immediately,” Cole said.

ACLU criticizes universities for employing armed police

After these videos surfaced, the ACLU of Massachusetts responded by condemning the universities’ use of police officers. “Deploying heavily armed police officers over student political speech is an inherently dangerous decision,” Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in a statement.

“A smart college president tries to defuse these situations without involving the police,” said Harvey Silverglate, former executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. He said despite these tactics, the arrests were justified. “You cannot disrupt what is happening on campus. Excessive noise, people working in the library, going to class. They may be prosecuted by law enforcement.”

UMass chancellor called on police to intervene

UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes said in a message to the college that he had asked campus police to disperse the crowd and disperse the encampment after protesters “rejected our offers for further civil dialogue.”

“Let me be clear: involving law enforcement is the absolute last resort,” Reyes said. “It saddens me to send this news tonight, but I hope that our campus community will persevere to find common ground and come together during these challenging times.”

Reyes said he told protesters at an earlier meeting Tuesday that the board of trustees would consider such a decision Call for divestment from defense-related companies. He said the students rejected the offer.

Will student protesters face school discipline?

A statement from UMass did not say whether the arrested students would face disciplinary action from the school.

Elsewhere in the state, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Tuesday that there have been “dozens of interim suspensions.” we are on the way after demonstrators tore down a fence around a camp there. MIT President Sally Kornbluth had warned students that they could face immediate suspension and a ban from graduation ceremonies if they did not leave the camp.

“The thing is, people have to walk in between to get to their classes,” UMass senior Will Franczak said. He said he was disappointed by the disruption and hoped the protests would end soon and closure would be near. “I want to graduate on time. I support the cause, but I don’t want protesters to ruin or hinder the conclusion.”