Police detain a protestor, as other police officers enter the campus of Columbia University, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, U., April 30, 2024.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Police officers continued to arrest campus protesters from coast to coast this week, with at least 150 more pro-Palestinian demonstrators taken into custody since Monday morning.
More than 1,000 people have been detained on American campuses since the arrest of 108 protesters on April 18 at Columbia University in New York City launched a wave of student activism nationwide. Here's where the latest arrests have been made:
-- In Northern California, the police arrested 25 protesters early Tuesday and ended the eight-day occupation of an administration building at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, that had forced a campus shutdown.
-- At Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, officials said officers from the campus police, Virginia State Police and the Richmond Police Department broke up a protest with riot gear and pepper spray. Administrators said protesters "threw objects and used chemical spray on officers" before 13 people, including six students, were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly and trespassing.
-- In Austin, 79 people were arrested at the University of Texas during tense protests on Monday, after 57 were arrested during a similar protest last week. All of those arrested Monday were held on misdemeanor charges, mostly for trespassing, according to a county jail spokesperson. One was charged with interfering with public duties.
-- Six people were arrested at Tulane University in New Orleans and charged with offenses including trespassing and resisting arrest after they "stormed university property and erected tents" on campus on Monday, officials said. Administrators said that suspensions were also being issued but did not say how many students were involved.
-- Campus police officers entered a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Connecticut on Tuesday morning to "remove the tents and tarps and to arrest those who refused compliance," officials said. That evening, officials confirmed that 25 protesters were arrested, 24 of them students and one former student. All were charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.
-- At the University of Florida in Gainesville, officials said that police officers arrested nine protesters, including six students, who refused to comply with orders to disperse on Monday evening.
-- Nineteen protesters were arrested at the University of Utah on Monday night, school officials said, adding that officers removed and dismantled about a dozen tents. Four of those arrested were students, one was a university employee, and 14 were unaffiliated with the university, school officials said, adding that two police officers suffered minor injuries.
-- A group of protesters briefly occupied Clio Hall, home of the Graduate School at Princeton University, on Monday evening, officials said. Thirteen people were arrested, including five undergraduates, six graduate students, one postdoctoral researcher and one person not affiliated with the university. They received summonses for trespassing, have been barred from campus and will face additional school discipline, administrators said.
-- Protesters were arrested Monday morning at the University of Georgia in Athens, school officials said. A spokesperson did not provide information regarding the number of arrests but said that about 25 protesters had begun erecting tents and a barricade.
-- At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the university police detained 36 protesters on Tuesday morning, officials said, after they were given until 6 a.m. on Tuesday to clear out or face possible arrest, suspension or even expulsion. Of those, 30 people, including 13 university students, were cited for trespassing and released. Six more, including three students, were booked on trespassing charges at the county jail.
-- At the University of South Florida, in Tampa, officials said that three protesters who had tried to set up tents were arrested during a protest on Monday, including one student, one employee and one individual who was not affiliated with the school.
-- At the University of New Mexico, 16 protesters were arrested on Monday, including five students, after school officials said they vandalized and refused to vacate a student union building on campus. Officials said the protesters had been ordered to leave the building by Monday night and that failure to comply could lead to arrests.