More than 150 people arrested at NYU as pro-Palestine protests sweep college campuses
More than 150 people have been arrested at New York University as pro-Palestinian protests continue to sweep college campuses across the US.
Protestors are demanding that universities divest from companies that sell weapons to Israel. “We will not stop, we will not rest. Disclose. Divest,” they chanted.
Police warned the hundreds of pro-Palestinian protestors that they would face consequences if they failed to vacate the plaza after some were seen breaking through barriers that had been set up around the area, the school’s Global Campus Safety department said in a statement.
“If you leave now, no one will face any consequences for today’s actions—no discipline, no police,” safety officials said in a message delivered to those in the plaza. The same message was also shared on the university’s official social media channels.
The arrests came just a day after at least 45 people were arrested at Yale University after police in riot gear stormed the campus during a pro-Palestinian protest on Monday.
A wave of pro-Palestine protests have been sweeping across US college campuses in recent days in response to Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
The protests began at Columbia University last week, where more than 100 people, including many students, were arrested while demanding that the university divest from “companies complicit in genocide.”
The daughter of Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Isra Hirsi, was among those arrested. She was later suspended from the university.
“In my 3 years at @BarnardCollege I have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings,” Isra Hirsi, who is an organiser for Columbia University’s Apartheid Divest group, wrote on X.
“I just received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.”
She continued: “Those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated. We will stand resolute until our demands are met.
“Our demands include divestment from companies complicit in genocide, transparency of @Columbia’s investments and FULL amnesty for all students facing repression.”
Police said 108 people, including Ms Hirsi, were charged with trespassing at the Ivy League school. Two people were also charged with obstructing government administration.
On Monday, Columbia University announced it was canceling in-person classes on its New York City campus to try to “reset” the situation and “deescalate the rancor.”
“There is a pattern of behavior occurring on campuses across our nation, in which individuals attempt to occupy a space in defiance of school policy,” Kaz Daughtry, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for operations, said in a social media post. “Rest assured, in NYC the NYPD stands ready to address these prohibited and subsequently illegal actions whenever we are called upon.”
New encampments have since emerged at Columbia and Yale following the arrests, while hundreds of faculty members at Columbia University have held a mass walkout to protest against the president’s handling of the situation.
Meanwhile, students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Emerson College, both in the Boston area, have started their own protest encampments.
Boston University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have also seen protests emerge in recent days.
