As pro-Palestinian protests and protestors continue to rock universities across the United States, New York Police arrested 300 people into custody late April 30, 2024, at Columbia University and City College of New York.
Clashes also occurred and erupted at the University of California, leaving 15 injured. The protests follow the October 7, 2023 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 universities across the US in recent days, expressing opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza and demanding schools divest from companies that support Israeli government. Many of the schools have called in the police to quell the protests.
Nearly 300 people have been arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York, amid protests. Many of them arrested were charged with trespassing and criminal mischief While what the student protestors are seeking varies from school to school, many are demanding an immediate ceasefire in the war on Gaza and that the universities divest from companies with military ties with 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 University of California, Los Angeles campus to help restore order early May 1, 2024. The California Federation of Teachers called on the 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 May 1 said it was a beautiful thing to watch New York Police officers to crackdown on campus protests across the United States. “New York was under siege last night, Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Wisconsin.
At protests spread to other countries state troopers and local police cleared an encampment at the University of Texas at Dallas. Law enforcement forces held a line behind a barricade as school officials and swiftly disposed of tents, banners and other supplies.
New York Police Department officers also entered a Fordham University building in Manhattan and began arresting protestors 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, the White House spokesperson Karine Jean Pierre said on May 1, 2024.
