Students protesting the war in Gaza left their encampment at the University of Southern California early Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest, while Northeastern University's commencement ended peacefully at Boston's Fenway Park.
Developments at both places were closely watched after dozens of arrests last month — 94 at USC in Los Angeles and about 100 at Northeastern in Boston. Dozens of Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived around 4 a.m. at USC to assist campus security officers. The university had warned of arrests on social media and in person. The video shows some protesters packing up and leaving, while police line up to remove others from the camp as it empties out. The university said there were no reports of arrests.
USC President Carol Folt said it was time to draw a line because “the occupation was moving in a dangerous direction” with areas of campus blocked off and people being harassed.
“The operation was peaceful,” Folt wrote in an update. “Campus is opening, students are returning to prepare for finals and commencement preparations are in full swing.” USC earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony while allowing other commencement activities to go ahead.
At Sunday's Northeast Commencement, some students waved small Palestinian and Israeli flags, but were outnumbered waving Indian and US flags, among others. Undergraduate speaker Rebecca Bamidele drew brief cheers when she called for peace in Gaza. The Associated Press has counted about 2,500 people arrested on about 50 campuses since April 18, based on its reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement.
Arrests continued apace over the weekend. At the University of Virginia, 25 arrests were made Saturday for trespassing after police clashed with protesters who refused to remove tents. On the campus of the Art Institute of Chicago, police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment hours after it was established on Saturday and arrested 68 people, saying they would be charged with criminal trespass.
ARRESTS IN VIRGINIA In Charlottesville, Virginia, student protesters began their protest on a lawn outside the school's chapel on Tuesday. Saturday's video showed police in riot gear and shields lined up on campus as protesters chanted “Free Palestine.” As police moved in, students were pushed to the ground, pulled by the arms and sprayed with a chemical irritant, Laura Goldblatt, an assistant professor assisting the protesters, told The Washington Post. The university said protesters were told the tents were prohibited under school policy and asked to remove them.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miares told Fox News on Sunday that the police response was justified because students had been repeatedly warned to leave, violated the school's code of conduct and that outsiders who were not students had provided protesters with supplies such as wooden barricades.
“We've seen people who are not students show up in riot gear with bull horns to direct protesters how to flank our officers,” Miyares said.
He said some people had put bear spray in water bottles and thrown them at officers.
It was the latest clash in weeks of protests and tensions at US colleges and universities.
Tent camps of protesters urging universities to stop doing business with Israel or with companies they say support the war on Gaza have spread into a student movement unlike any other this century. Some schools reached agreements with protesters to end protests and reduce the possibility of disruptions to final exams and commencements.
PROTESTS DURING COMMENCEMENT The University of Michigan was among the schools prepared for protests at commencement this weekend, as were Indiana University, Ohio State University and Northeastern. More ceremonies are planned in the coming weeks. In Ann Arbor, there was a protest at the start of the event at Michigan Stadium. About 75 people, many wearing traditional Arabic kaffirs along with their graduation caps, made their way up the main aisle to the stage.
They were shouting “Regents, regents, you can't hide! You are financing genocide!' while holding signs, including one that read: “There are no universities in Gaza.” Overhead, planes flew banners with competing messages. “Leave Israel now! Free Palestine!” and “We stand with Israel. Jewish lives matter.” Officials said no one was arrested and the protest did not seriously disrupt the nearly two-hour event, which was attended by tens of thousands of people, some of whom waved Israeli flags.
MORE PROTESTS CONTINUE At Indiana University, protesters urged supporters to put on their coffees and walk out during remarks by the school's president, Pamela Whitten, on Saturday night. The Bloomington campus designated a protest zone outside Memorial Stadium, where the ceremony took place.
At Princeton University in New Jersey, 18 students began a hunger strike to try to pressure the university to divest from companies linked to Israel. Students at other colleges, including Brown and Yale, launched similar hunger strikes this year before the latest wave of protests. The protests stem from the conflict that began on October 7, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has launched an assault on Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its residents.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is automatically generated by a syndicated feed.)
