Violent protests in US universities over Gaza war, hundreds arrested at Columbia
As pro-Palestinian protests continue to rock universities across the United States.
New York City police took about 300 people into custody late on Tuesday at Columbia University and City College of New York. Clashes also erupted at California University, leaving 15 injured.
The protests follow the October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip and the ensuing Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave. Students have rallied or set up tent encampments at dozens of schools across the US in recent days, expressing opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza and demanding schools divest from companies that support Israel’s government. Many of the schools have called in police to quell the protests.
PROTESTS ROCK US UNIVERSITIES
Nearly 300 people were arrested at Columbia and City College of New York, amid protests. Many of those arrested were charged with trespassing and criminal mischief. While what the student protesters are seeking varies from school to school, many are demanding an immediate ceasefire in the war on Gaza and that their universities divest from companies with military ties to Israel.
At least 15 people were injured at the University of California after a protest turned violent. The development came after the police were summoned to the University of California, Los Angeles, campus to help restore order early Wednesday. The California Federation of Teachers called on Block to resign, saying they had “created an environment that has escalated tensions and failed to take meaningful action to prevent the violence that occurred last night.”
Former US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said it “was a beautiful thing to watch” New York police officers raiding a Columbia University building occupied by pro-Palestinian students, and called on officials to crack down on campus protests across the United States. “New York was under siege last night,” Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Wisconsin.
As protests spread to other countries, state troopers and local police cleared an encampment at the University of Texas at Dallas. Law enforcement held a line behind a barricade as school officials and officers swiftly disposed of tents, banners and other supplies. New York Police Department officers also entered a Fordham University building in Manhattan and began arresting protesters who had set up an encampment inside.
US President Joe Biden is being kept abreast of the protests occurring at college campuses across the country, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday.