University Protests: The Latest at Colleges Beyond Columbia

As college students demand divestment from Israel and take up other pro-Palestine causes on campuses around the country, police crackdowns have followed in quick succession. Last week, Columbia University president Minouche Shafik allowed the NYPD onto campus last week to arrest students at the school’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment; since then, similar encampments have cropped up at many colleges and universities, despite universities’ efforts to dismantle them. Below, updates on where the protest movement is spreading and how the sometimes-violent backlash is playing out.

More than 30 students were arrested at Indiana University late on Thursday, and a dozen were arrested at Ohio State University. At both schools, students claimed there were snipers stationed on campus rooftops, though the Ohio State administration stated that these were state police officers working as spotters, which the school also employs during football games.

Some of the most violent crackdowns took place at Emory University in Atlanta on Thursday, where videos showed police bringing students to the ground to detain them; a total of 28 people were arrested. Students, who were also protesting the university’s involvement in a police-training facility known as “Cop City,” allege that police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. One clip shows police Tasing a student who is already handcuffed and on the ground:

Among those arrested was the chair of Emory’s philosophy department:

Over 100 people were arrested early on Thursday morning at Emerson College, where a student encampment had been in place since Sunday in an alley on Boylston Street at the edge of campus. Prior to raiding the camp, the Boston Police Department informed students that they were violating city laws around camping on city streets. Students attempted to stop the police in riot gear, leading to police “dragging people out,” according to one Emerson student who spoke with CBS News. BPD states that four officers were injured in the process.

The Los Angeles Police Department states that 93 demonstrators were arrested for trespassing at the University of Southern California — not usually a hotbed of protest — where students set up an encampment on Wednesday. After the arrests, USC became the first major school to cancel its main graduation ceremony this year.

At the University of Texas at Austin, state police on horseback and in riot gear arrested more than 50 protesters on Wednesday. A photographer for the local Fox affiliate was also arrested in the chaos:

The demonstrations grew in size after cops cracked down, not an uncommon ocurrence:

On Friday, the Travis County attorney’s office said it would drop criminal trespassing charges against all 57 people officers had detained. KUT reports that those arrested will not be allowed back on campus for the remainder of the school year.

When the NYPD broke up an encampment at NYU on Monday night, they arrested more than 100 students and almost 20 professors. Soon after, NYU set up a large plywood barricade to block access to the former encampment area in Gould Plaza on West 4th Street.

After the arrests, the dean of students at NYU reportedly emailed at least one student who was detained to offer support “processing this distressing experience.” The email also stated that the school recognizes “that you might not be ready to connect or find it helpful — and that is okay.”