The violent pro-Palestine protests across various universities in the United States have resulted in suspension, eviction and arrests of dozens of protestors.
An Indian-origin student named Achinthya Sivalingam was arrested and banned from Princeton University for partaking in a “violent” pro-Palestine encampment protest within the campus premises on Thursday (25th April). Other than Coimbatore-born graduate student Achinthya Sivalingam, a fifth-year PhD student Hassan Sayed has also been arrested. The sit-in protest at Princeton, which began with roughly 110 people, grew to almost 300 by Thursday afternoon.
Hassan Sayed, a fifth year PhD candidate in economics, and Achinthya Sivalingan, a SPIA MPA second year, have been arrested, evicted, and permanently banned from the @Princeton campus, thereby preventing them from finishing their degrees. pic.twitter.com/XG31jW8Sdm
— Writers Against the War on Gaza (@wawog_now) April 25, 2024
Confirming the duo’s arrest, Jennifer Morrill, a spokesperson for the University said: “After repeated warnings from the Department of Public Safety to cease the activity and leave the area. The two graduate students have been immediately barred from campus, pending a disciplinary process and the remaining tents were “voluntarily taken down by protestors.”
The pro-Palestine protestors demanded that Princeton divest from companies that “profit from or engage in the State of Israel’s ongoing military campaign” in Gaza, end any University research “on weapons of war” funded by the US Department of Defence, implement an academic and cultural boycott of Israeli institutions, endorse Palestinian academic and cultural institutions, and explicitly call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Notably, in March of this year, Princeton University received a $18.6 million grant from the United States Department of Defence to develop technologies for quicker, more efficient AI inference processing. EnCharge AI, co-founded by Princeton professor Naveen Verma, has formed a partnership with the varsity, which is backed by the United States Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
93 arrested in the University of Southern California
Meanwhile, 93 people have been arrested on suspicion of trespassing during Wednesday’s demonstrations at the University of Southern California.
According to Vice President for Public Safety Cheryl Elliott, 28 persons were arrested during a protest at the school, including 20 Emory community members. According to the Georgia State Patrol, troopers used pepper balls “to control the unruly crowd” during the protest.
In the visuals emerging from Emory University, Georgia, security forces are seen tasering the pro-Palestine protestors, launching tear gas, and reportedly firing rounds of rubber bullets at crowds and protesters.
🚨#BREAKING: Chaos has Unleashed at Emory University as Georgia Police Deploy Tasers, Rubber Bullets, and Tear Gas Against Protesters⁰⁰📌#Atlanta | #Georgia ⁰
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 25, 2024
Moments ago at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, hundreds of students, pro-Palestine protesters, and other… pic.twitter.com/LEwwGuKBEn
Meanwhile, Brown University has identified approximately 130 students who allegedly violated a school conduct regulation that prohibits on-campus encampments. According to the university, students who are found to be guilty will face penalty based on their behaviour and other factors, including any prior conduct breaches.
Snipers on the University campus? Video viral
A video from Ohio University has gone viral wherein some snipers were seen on the rooftops of Ohio State University and Indiana Bloomingdale University on Thursday. However, the varsity’s spokesperson Ben Johnson in clarification said that the men seen on the rooftops are “state troopers in a watching position, similar to a football gameday.”
🚨#BREAKING: Snipers have been spotted on top of roofs at Ohio and Indiana universities as pro-Palestine protests causing a uproar ⁰⁰📌#Ohio | #Indiana
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 26, 2024
As dozens of protests break out across the United States at numerous universities, students and protesters have reported… pic.twitter.com/q8kAj9KkJP
Meanwhile, Indiana University’s police department said that a gathering of tents in Dunn Meadow violated campus laws, and 33 persons were arrested for refusing to take them down.
According to the Boston Police Department, more than 100 people were arrested and four police officers suffered injuries while clearing an encampment at the Boston liberal arts college.
Overnight, far-left extremists gathered at @EmersonCollege in Boston for a direct action for Gaza. They attacked police & brought umbrellas, an Antifa tactic used to hide themselves and to assault people. Four officers were injured during the 108 arrests. pic.twitter.com/lwBDTEAO0g
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 25, 2024
Meanwhile, Harvard University’s anti-Israel tent encampment bid was abruptly halted overnight by a spate of sprinklers that flooded protesters’ tents on Thursday. “As protesters spend their first night in the Harvard Yard encampment, the biggest threat to their stay has not come from administrators or Harvard University police officers, but the Yard’s sprinklers,” the Harvard Crimson reported.
Notably, reports say that around 53 students have been suspended from Barnard College for participating in anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.
The Los Angeles Police Department informed that 93 people were arrested at the University of Southern California.
“The university is a private campus and the group had been violating some of their orders. It was a trespass at that point and we assisted with the arrests,” Los Angeles Police Captain Kelly Muniz said during a briefing.
Moreover, one person was also arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, Muniz said.
No protesters or officers have been reported injured, police said. The USC Department of Public Safety ordered protesters gathering at the campus’ Alumni Park on Wednesday afternoon to disperse or face arrest for trespassing.
According to a university official, tensions escalated during the demonstrations, as at one time, protesters refused to relocate and remove their tents and other prohibited items. Following this, the university closed its campus on Wednesday evening as LAPD began arresting demonstrators.
Earlier on Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson called for the resignation of Columbia University’s president amid ongoing demonstrations sparked by pro-Palestinian sentiments at major American universities, CNN reported.
Protesters at Columbia University, where demonstrations ignited last week, demand the severance of ties with Israeli academic institutions and a complete divestment from entities linked to Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
House Speaker Mike Johnson emphasised the need for order on campus, stating that if the university president cannot restore calm, she should resign. However, student reactions to this call for resignation are varied, with some expressing willingness to continue working with her.
As reported earlier, the protests first erupted on the 17th of April when Columbia University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik faced questioning concerning on-campus anti-Semitism during a hearing before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Texas governor Greg Abbott calls for pro-Palestine protestors to be jailed and expelled
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has reportedly taken a strong stand against the violent protests in universities. Riot police were seen entering the University of Texas at Austin on April 25.
“Arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses. These protesters belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled”, Abbott had posted on X.
Governor of Texas calls for anti-Israel activists to be ‘expelled’ and put in ‘jail.’
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 24, 2024
Governor Greg Abbott has slammed the student protesters engulfing the University of Texas at Austin campus calling their actions ‘hate-filled.
“Arrests being made right now & will continue… pic.twitter.com/DNNQ9IFKT7
Protesters set up tents in ‘Shaheen Bagh’ style, call them ‘Liberated encampment zones’
Following the arrest of 108 Columbia University protesters, including Isra Hirsi, daughter of Islamist and Hamas sympathiser Rep. Ilhan Omar, institutions including New York University, Yale University, the University of Illinois, and the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Southern California, organised protests and extended ‘solidarity’. The protestors have set up ‘Liberated Encampment Zones’ inside these universities.
On Wednesday, hundreds of protestors were arrested from the University of South California and Texas University. Over 48 protestors were arrested on Monday at an encampment at Yale University, while 133 protestors were taken into custody at New York University this week. On Tuesday, around 9 pro-Palestine protestors were arrested from the University of Minnesota.
