Over the past two weeks, more than 1,000 protesters have been arrested on campuses in Texas, Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, Fresh Mexico, Connecticut, Louisiana, California and Fresh Jersey, some after clashes with police.
Columbia University has asked police to remain on campus until May 17.
The White House condemned conflicts at Columbia University and California Polytechnic State University in Humboldt, where demonstrators they occupied two buildings, and then at night officers with batons intervened and arrested 25 people. Officials predicted total damage to the Northern California school would be more than $1 million.
Last week, pro-Palestinian students set up a tent camp at Ivy League universities in Fresh York. On April 18, the police attempted to evict the camp, arresting over 100 protesters. But this approach backfired, energizing students across the country and prompting protesters in Colombia to regroup.
Clashes break out at the University of California
Hours after police entered Columbia University to clear pro-Palestinian protesters, clashes broke out at the University of California, with dozens of protesters and counter-demonstrators fighting, carrying sticks and metal barricades.
The Los Angeles Police Department said in X: “We can confirm that LAPD officers have been dispatched and are currently on the UCLA campus to lend a hand restore order. We are cooperating with UCLA police and other law enforcement agencies.”
Columbia’s arena was cleared of protesters; the police asked to stay until May 17
Behind schedule Tuesday, Fresh York City Police officers entered Columbia University and arrested pro-Palestinian protesters. The law enforcement actions were in response to the prolonged occupation by students who took over Hamilton Hall and maintained a tent camp for almost two weeks.
This police intervention follows a direct call from Mayor Eric Adams, who earlier in the day stated that the ongoing protest “must end now.”
Colombian President Minouche Shafik wrote a letter to senior NYPD officials asking police to remove protesters from the occupied building and the surrounding tent encampment “with the utmost regret.” She also appealed for the officers to remain on campus until May 17, i.e. after the university’s inauguration ceremony.
‘This is not an example of peaceful protest’: White House condemns violent protests
Calling it “totally the wrong approach,” Whitehouse condemned the riot at Columbia-California Polytechnic State University in Humboldt, where demonstrators occupied two buildings before officers with batons intervened overnight and arrested 25 people.
Authorities said total damage to the Northern California school would be more than $1 million.
“Free, free Palestine!”
Chanting “shame on you” and “free, free Palestine!” student protesters are calling on Columbia University and other institutions to divest from companies involved in Israeli military operations in Gaza.
Their sit-in and demonstrations are part of a broader protest against what they see as injustice in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, coinciding with broader protests across the country following the Israeli offensive in Gaza sparked by a Hamas attack on southern Israel.
