Ten MIT students arrested after police clear pro-Palestinian camp

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ News Radio) — Ten Massachusetts Institute of Technology students were arrested after police cleared a pro-Palestinian camp on campus early Friday morning.

The students’ lawyer told supporters outside Cambridge District Court that they would likely be charged with trespassing and released.

MIT police began breaking up the protest shortly after 4 a.m., taking demonstrators into custody and then removing the tents, flags and signs that made up the encampment.

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In a statement, MIT President Sally Kornbluth said the camp was disbanded on her orders and that the 10 people arrested were a mix of graduate students and undergraduates. Kornbluth said the people were repeatedly warned to leave or they would be arrested.

According to Kornbluth, the recent escalation “with external threats from individuals and groups on both sides” influenced their decision to end the camp.

“It wasn’t going in a direction that you could call peaceful,” Kornbluth said. “And the cost and disruption to the community at large made the situation increasingly untenable. We didn’t believe we could responsibly allow the camp to continue.”

After the police operation on Friday morning, demonstrators reiterated that although the tents were gone, their message was going nowhere.

“Camps are just a form of leverage,” graduate student Mohamed told reporters. “The camps are a symbol of the real fortitude of the students who stay here. It’s not just about the warehouse. The camp symbolizes the unity of this campus and the fact that they cannot break.”