20 Posts
Sort by
Police are on campus at Columbia and UCLA. Here’s the latest on the protests disrupting US universities
CNN staff
More than 100 people were arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York on Tuesday night, according to a law enforcement official, as protests against Israel's bombardment of Gaza intensified across college campuses nationwide.
Police in riot gear entered Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall and used flash bangs when breaching the building, in which pro-Palestinian protesters had barricaded themselves. Less than two hours after officers entered the school’s campus in Morningside Heights, Columbia University’s property was cleared.
Columbia has asked the NYPD to remain on campus until May 17, two days after its graduation ceremony, but protesters remain defiant.
Columbia has been the epicenter, but protests have been roiling universities nationwide.
In Los Angeles, police have arrived on campus at UCLA, mayor Karen Bass said early on Wednesday. Before the deployment, pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporterswere clashing at UCLA,according to multiple reports.
"The violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable,"the mayor saidin a post on X.
Here are the latest developments on other campuses
- University of North Carolina Chapel Hill: At least 36 protesters were detained at an encampment. Police officers were seen physically pushing back protesters. Demonstrators took down the campus US flag and replaced it with a Palestinian flag.
- Florida State University: Five people, among them two students, were arrested during a demonstration Tuesday, the school said.
- University of Texas-Austin: Police presence on campus and arrests are “dwindling” law enforcement resources, Travis County prosecutor Delia Garza said, and called for the universityto initiate a compromise with student protest organizers. Nearly 80 people were arrested on campus Monday and Garza’s office is processing at least 65 criminal trespass cases, she said.
- University of Southern California: President Carol Folt engaged in a second meeting with protesters on campus, but no agreement was reached
- Occupied buildings and security: Portland State University President Ann Cudd asked students to voluntarilyleave the library they are occupying and said the university is in touch with police about removing students.
- Cleared encampments: Some universities, such as Yale and Brown, have cleared protest encampments after reaching agreements with students. Brown University student protesters have reached an agreement to disband their encampment after the university agreed to hold a vote on divestment from companies that support Israel.
Police have arrived on UCLA's campus
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
The Los Angeles Police Department "has arrived on campus" at UCLA, mayor Karen Bass said early on Wednesday.
"The violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable,"the mayor said in a post on X.
Before the deployment, pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporterswere clashing at UCLA, according to multiple reports.
Video from CNN affiliate KABC shows fireworks, objects being thrown, and physical violence among demonstrators.
LAPD also said Wednesday morning they were responding to assist the UCLA Police Department in apost on X.
“At the request of UCLA, due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus, the LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD, and other law enforcement agencies, to restore order and maintain public safety,” LAPD said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said they were closely monitoring the situation at UCLA.
“Law enforcement leaders are in contact this evening and resources are being mobilized,” Newsom’s office said.
Tensions have been rising across campuses since October. Here’s a glimpse into how the movement began
From CNN's Jordan Valinsky
Tensions on US college campuses have risen since Hamas’ October 7 attack, when militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killedmore than 34,000 people, according to its health ministry.
Reports ofantisemitic acts have surgedacross America and particularly on college campuses since October 7. Islamophobia has run rampant, too. The recent surge in protests have inflamed those tensions, forcing leadership to decide when free speech on campus crosses a line and becomes threatening.
But the protests particularly ramped up in mid-April at Columbia University, when the university’s president,Minouche Shafik,testified before a House committeeabout the school’s response to charges of campus antisemitism. A pro-Palestinian protest kicked off on campus at the same time.
Following her testimony, Shafik requested in aletterreleased by the university that the New York City Police Department remove people who were encamped on the South Lawn of the campus who were “in violation of the University’s rules and policies” and trespassing. More than100 people were arrested, according to law enforcement.
The encampments were organized byColumbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD),a student-led coalition of more than 100 organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestineand Jewish Voice for Peace,to protestwhat they describe asthe university’s “continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine,” according to its news release.
Pro-Palestinian encampments have since started at campuses across the US, including at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Emerson College, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley.
Protesters clash on UCLA campus, reports say
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
A violent confrontation has broken out between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supportersat the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), multiplenews outlets report.
The clash came hours after UCLAChancellor Gene Block called a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus "unlawful" on Tuesday night.
Block said the school had increased security and that students who didn't leave the encampment would face disciplinary action.
The encampment "is unlawful and violates university policy,” Block said in a statement.
TheDaily Bruin had reported a standoff between protesters and counter-protesters, and fireworks being launched into the encampment.
Video from CNN affiliate KABC shows fireworks, objects being thrown, and physical violence among demonstrators.
Zach Seidl, spokesperson for the L.A. Mayor's office,said in a poston X thatthe "mayor has spoken to Chancellor Block and Chief Choi. LAPD is responding immediately to Chancellor Block’s request for support on campus.”
It's unclear whether anyone has been seriously injured.
CNN has reached outto UCLA, UCLA Police and LAPD for comment.
Analysis: Student unrest ratchets up an already tense election year
From CNN's Stephen Collinson
Dramaticcampus protestsare injecting an inflammatory new element into an election year that is already threatening to stretch national unity to a breaking point.
Tensions spiked late Tuesday following an operation by New York Police Department surge teams to reclaim the Columbia University campus from pro-Palestinian demonstrators and followed scuffles, arrests and canceled classes on at least 25 campuses in 21 states.
The protests were triggered by the terrible civilian toll of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, but they’re now exposing the country’s ideological schisms and new political currents.
The protests are a new test forPresident Joe Bidenas he seeks reelection, with the Gaza war tearing deep rifts in his fragile electoral coalition.
Any president torn between implementing what he thinks is in the US national interest – in this case, defending Israel – and his own political imperatives is in a perilous spot, let alone one who is six months from asking voters for a second term.
And if protests spread and Biden looks like he’s losing control of the country, the political consequences could be ruinous.
Read the full analysis.
Campus protesters are calling for divestment. It's happened before
From CNN's Samantha Delouya
Nearly all pro-Palestinian protests rocking college campuses across the US have called for universities to divest from Israel in some form.
What would divestment look like?
Divestment is the opposite of investment.
Many universities have an endowment, which is donated funds generally invested in stocks, bonds and other financial instruments to help the university earn money.
At Columbia, a group of students wants the college to divestits $13.6 billion endowment from any company linked to Israel, including Microsoft and Amazon.
Protesters at other schools, such as Cornell and Yale, want their universities to stop investing in weapons manufacturers.
What are university officials saying?
On Monday, Columbia’s administration reiterated that it would not divest from Israel. Last week, the University of California also said divestment wouldn’t happen.
But some colleges are willing to talk with protesters.
Christina Paxson, president of Brown University, sent a letter to demonstrators saying she would agree to hear a divestment proposal if the school’s encampment were disbanded, according to the student-run newspaper, theBrown Daily Herald.
They've been here before.
Columbia students protesting South Africa's apartheid racial segregation policy in the 1980s called on the school to sever its financial ties with companies doing business in the country.
Columbia eventually voted to sell most of its stock in South Africa-connected companies. Other colleges followed suit.
Protesters have been arrested on more than 25 campuses across at least 21 states
From CNN's Alex Leeds Matthews,Krystina Shveda,Amy O'KrukandRenée Rigdon
Since April 18, more than 1,000 people have been arrested on college and university campuses from coast to coast as schools prepare for spring commencement ceremonies, according to a CNN review of university and law enforcement statements.
Protesters have been arrested on more than 25 campuses across at least 21 states. However, many other schools have experienced protests without arrests.
CNN is monitoring campus protests and will continue to updatethis mapwith any new arrests.
Video shows Arizona State University police officer removing protester’s hijab during arrest
From CNN’s Cindy Von Quednow
Video taken over the weekend at Arizona State University shows acampuspolice officer removing a hijab from a protester’s head during her arrest.
The blurred video, obtained byMass Liberation AZ and provided to CNN by attorney Zayed Al-Sayyed,who represents the women, shows severalASU Police Departmentofficers surrounding a woman whose hands are held behind her back as one of the officers removes her hijab.
People nearby can be heard yelling, “You’re violating her privacy,” and “Give it back.”
The officers then pull the woman’s sweatshirt hood over her head and a bystander yells, “So she can wear a hood but not her hijab?” At one point one of the officers blocks the woman from the view of those taking the video, as a person yells, “let her go!”
A lawyer representing her and three other women who said it also happened to them is demanding accountability.
Al-Sayyed, who said the arrests took place early Saturday, did not identify the women but indicated that three of them are students at the university and all four are Phoenix-area residents. They are facing criminal trespass charges.
Upon being taken into custody, Al-Sayyed said, the women explained the significance of a hijab and “begged” to keep their hijabs, but he said they were told that their hijabs had to be removed for safety reasons.
“They never expected that an officer … who’s sworn to protect and serve is going to violate their most basic protected right under the United States Constitution, which is the right to practice their religion. So they're hurt,” Al-Sayyed said.
After being detained and bused to jail, the women were not given their hijabs back, Al-Sayyed said.
Around 15 hours later, when he was finally given access to his clients, Al-Sayyed said he was able to bring them new hijabs.
The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ),condemnedthe university police for the recorded incident and others like it and called for a full investigation.
“This act represents a blatant infringement upon the religious liberties of peaceful protesters. It is profoundly distressing for the affected women, and ASU Police must conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” Azza Abuseif, executive director of CAIR-AZ, said in an email to CNN.
In a statement to CNN, the university said, “This matter is under review.”CNN has reached out to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for comment.
Over 100 protesters arrested across 2 New York college campuses, law enforcement official says
From CNN’s Mark Morales
Over 100 protesters were arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and City College of New York, according to a law enforcement official.
Most of the arrests were made at Columbia, including about two dozen protesters who police say tried to prevent officers from entering the campus, the official said.
Tactical teams at Columbia first set up a perimeter around the campus to hold back protesters and prevent further arrests, according to the official. Officers then entered the campus through multiple entry points.
