Students at several college campuses across the United States, who have been protesting the Israel-Hamas war, dug in as police moved in to clear them, with dozens of demonstrators being arrested.
Protesters are demanding the schools cut all financial ties with Israel, in addition to divesting from companies they claim are enabling the conflict.
Since protests started, Jewish faculty and students have reported anti-Semitic behavior that has made them afraid to set foot on campus.
According to a statement by Columbia University in New York City on April 27, students and administrators have started to engage in negotiations.
“Dialogue between university officials and student organizers is ongoing. We want to be clear: There is no truth to claims of an impending lockdown or evictions on campus,” a statement by the Columbia administration said.
Despite repeatedly extending the deadlines or the removal of the encampment, the school said that bringing back police “at this time” would be counterproductive, according to an email sent to students.
Decisions to call in law enforcement have led to hundreds of arrests across the United States. School faculty members at universities in California, Georgia, and Texas moved to pass votes of no confidence in their leadership. The votes, however, are largely symbolic, without any authority to remove their presidents.
Some protesters at Washington University in St. Louis have been arrested after the facility locked several campus buildings.
Officers from the St. Louis Police Department said they offered assistance to campus police but did not make any arrests, according to a social media post.
According to local media reports, more than 80 people were arrested during the protest that began in public areas before moving to the campus on April 27.
Two Green Party candidates were among those arrested, according to a social media post by Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein.
The University of Southern California said on Saturday it had temporarily closed its University Park Campus to nonresidents. The facility provided no further details.
According to a statement by Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications, USC property was vandalized by members of a group “that has continued to illegally camp on our campus,” in addition to disrupting operations and harassing students and others.
Offers to meet with school administrators were repeatedly rejected by students, who are hoping for a more reasonable response on April 28, before further actions are initiated, according to Mr. Curran.
“While the university fully supports freedom of expression, these acts of vandalism and harassment are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Mr Curran said.
In Boston, police in riot gear cleared an encampment on the campus of Northeastern University on April 27. Over one hundred protesters were arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, Massachusetts State Police said.
Protesters said they were given about 15 minutes to disperse before being arrested.
The police action was met with chants, slogans, and boos from demonstrators.
Northeastern said in a statement that the demonstration, which began two days ago, had become “infiltrated by professional organizers” with no affiliation to the university, and anti-Semitic slurs, including chants to “kill the Jews.”
“We cannot tolerate this kind of hate on our campus,” the statement posted on social media said.
The left-leaning student activist group “Huskies for a Free Palestine” blamed counterprotesters for the slur and “hate speech,” according to a statement.
Students at the Boston protest said a counterprotester attempted to instigate hate speech while claiming their event was peaceful.
The president of nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology said in a statement Saturday that an encampment there had become a “potential magnet for disruptive outside protesters” and was taking hundreds of staff hours to keep safe.
“We have a responsibility to the entire MIT community—and it is not possible to safely sustain this level of effort,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said. “We are open to further discussion about the means of ending the encampment. But this particular form of expression needs to end soon.”
Indiana University campus officers and state police arrested 23 people on April 27 at an encampment on the school’s Bloomington campus. A further 69 people were arrested the same day at Arizona State University. Charges against the protesters ranged from criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement, according to police.
“While the university will continue to be an environment that embraces freedom of speech, ASU’s first priority is to create a safe and secure environment that supports teaching and learning,” the university said in a statement.
Pressure is mounting on school officials, who are scrambling to resolve the protests as May graduation ceremonies near.
USC canceled a planned commencement speech by the school’s pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing safety concerns.
The school’s main graduation event was cancelled following an announcement on April 25, after police arrested more than 90 protesters.
The nationwide protests started after Israel launched a war against Hamas after the terrorist group attacked Israel on Oct. 7 killing 1,200 Israelis and taking about 240 Israelis hostage, many of whom remain in Gaza.
Despite many claims by protesters and activist groups that the protests were peaceful demonstrations, some protesters have been repeatedly caught on camera making anti-Semitic remarks and violent threats against the Jewish people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.