Colleges called police to clear the student encampments and disperse protestors|@ColumbiaSJP|X
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations at several universities across the country have seen hundreds of arrests. Nearly 300 protestors at New York’s Columbia University were taken into custody in the past two days.
As a result, the colleges saw more demonstrations all over the nation.
Several colleges have suspended students and called police to clear the encampments and disperse protestors—leading to several officers storming campus buildings.
UCLA saw clashes between protesters and counterprotesters that needed the Los Angeles police to intervene. The school had to cancel classes on Wednesday.
External forces causing trouble
Universities and police note that outside forces and people unaffiliated with the schools are escalating the student protests by joining them.
NYU’s president said 68 of 133 people arrested on campus recently weren’t current students, faculty, or staff. In UT, Austin 45 of the 79 arrested weren’t associated with the school.
As campuses are roiled in protests, Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed the Israeli and Hamas factions to reach an agreement to stop the war in Gaza. He is on his seventh visit to the Middle East since war broke out in October.