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What to know about campus protests:
- More than 2,000 people have been arrested at pro-Palestinian protests at colleges across the country in the last two weeks.
- At UCLA overnight, 210 people were arrested when officers cleared an on-campus encampment in a chaotic scene, officials said.
- New York City officials said that a significant number of people arrested this week at campus demonstrations were not affiliated with the schools. Nearly 30% of the people arrested at Columbia were unaffiliated with the university and 60% of the arrests at City College involved people who weren't affiliated with that school, the mayor said.
- Dozens of people have been arraigned in New York. The district attorney said 46 people who were detained at Columbia have been charged with criminal trespass and 22 people detained at City College were arraigned on one count burglary and obstructing governmental administration.
- President Joe Biden addressed the protests from the White House, saying students had a right to dissent but not a right to cause chaos.
Student from L.A.'s Occidental College answers call to action
LOS ANGELES — Chris Cassel, a second-year student from Occidental College in Los Angeles, was part of a group from his school that answered a call to action from protesting UCLA students who needed more supplies.
He said he felt compelled to participate after he watched violence erupt when counterprotesters confronted antiwar demonstrators.
Cassel said he arrived at UCLA around 6 p.m. yesterday and helped reinforce a makeshift perimeter around the encampment. Around 1:30 a.m. today, police started to tear down the wall of cardboard, umbrellas and wooden boards, he said.
He said he had just linked arms with other protesters when an officer pulled someone from inside the encampment and threw the person to the ground.
“At the end, it was 70 of us shoulder to shoulder and back to back facing off against the police,” he said. “They’re trying to repress us, but they miscalculated and set off a national movement.”
Hazmah Abbas, who is not a student at UCLA, said he had been on campus since last week to help protect the encampment perimeter. He described a “nightlong skirmish” with police that started around midnight when law enforcement officers tried to infiltrate the encampment.
He was among several dozen protesters remaining around 5 a.m. when the final arrests were made.
“We were locking arms, and they were just pulling us out one by one,” he said.
Columbia protesters combine annual ‘primal scream’ with demonstration against Shafik
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside Columbia University President Minouche Shafik’s residence tonight and chanted “shame on you” — as they unleashed the annual “primal scream.”
The chants have been used before and throughout Columbia and the NYPD’s response to the demonstrations against the war in Gaza.
But the scream is a twist on an annual tradition that typically marks the beginning of finals. Students yell their frustrations and worries away out of windows or near Butler Library.
Finals that were scheduled for tomorrow have been postponed to May 10.
Shafik has been criticized by some over the university’s response to the protests on campus, which included encampments and a group’s seizing control of Hamilton Hall and barricading it. Protesters also demanded that Columbia divest from companies linked to Israel.
University of Pennsylvania asks Philadelphia for help as protest grows
The University of Pennsylvania today asked the city of Philadelphia, where its campus is, for help as protests have escalated and as an encampment has grown, the university said.
“Protest activity began to escalate overnight and has steadily continued, with large crowds in and around College Green today. We have reached out to the City of Philadelphia to ensure we have the necessary resources to keep our community safe,” the university, known as Penn, said in a statement.
The university said earlier that a large demonstration on the College Green affected pedestrian traffic and that Philadelphia police were assisting.
Penn property has also been defaced, the university said. It also said protesters were using “threatening rhetoric and chants.”
Today a group of Jewish students and other pro-Israel protesters rallied and went to the university president's office on campus to call for an end to the encampment, NBC Philadelphia reported. Penn professor Benjamin Abella told the station that they have seen flags of “known terrorist groups” at the encampment and that they've heard what they consider hate speech, including calls for "intifada," or uprising.
L.A. city attorney: No charges have been submitted after protests
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office has not received any submissions for charges for those arrested at protests at UCLA or USC, spokesperson Ivor Pine said today.
The city attorney’s office handles misdemeanor cases, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has jurisdiction over felonies in the city of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County public defender Ricardo García said in a statement earlier today that his office was “committed to providing legal representation and support to those who have been arrested or who may face legal proceedings.”
He said the office deployed a rapid response team to help those arrested.
Arrests after protesters re-enter library at Portland State University
Eight arrests have been made after people pulled down a fence and re-entered the Millar Library on Portland State University's campus, Portland, Oregon, police said.
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the library Monday. Portland police closed the area around it and began clearing the building this morning.
Police said protesters left a slippery substance on the floor, which they claimed was intended to make officers entering the building slip and fall. Over 20 arrests were made today.
This evening, Portland police arrested seven people and campus police arrested one person after people tore down fencing and re-entered the library.
Portland State University said that its campus was closed today and that no one was authorized to be in the library.
NYPD accidentally officer fired gun in Hamilton Hall
A NYPD officer accidentally fired a gun inside Hamilton Hall on Tuesday when police entered it to clear it of protesters, officials said.
The City first reported that an officer fired his gun inside Hamilton Hall, on Columbia’s campus.
Doug Cohen, as spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, confirmed the office was reviewing the incident, as is its policy for such incidents, he said.
“Nobody was injured, and no students were in the immediate vicinity,” Cohen said, adding the gun was not aimed at anyone.
The NYPD said an emergency service unit officer was searching an area on the first floor and was trying to access a barricaded area. The officer was using his firearm, which had a flashlight, to illuminate the area and find the best way through when he accidentally discharged the gun, police said.
A single round was discharged and hit a frame in the wall a few feet away, police said.
No one except police personnel were within “sight or sound” of the discharge, the department said. Body camera video has been sent to the DA’s office.
Map: Campus protests across the U.S.
Since mid-April, campuses across the country have been the sites of encampments, protests and counterprotests as students have demanded Palestinian liberation and for their schools to call for a cease-fire and divest their endowments from Israel and companies they say are profiting from the war.
Columbia reopens campus to faculty
Columbia University will expand campus access to include all faculty members at the Morningside campus starting tomorrow.
The faculty access is in addition to the already existing access for students who live on campus and for employees who provide "essential services," the school said.
The only access to Columbia's campus is the 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue entrance. All other points of entry will remain closed.
Faculty lost access to campus following the occupation of Hamilton Hall on Tuesday, which led the university to call in the NYPD to break up protests and the occupation.
L.A. mayor: 'Harassment, vandalism and violence have no place at UCLA'
"Every student deserves to be safe and live peacefully on their campus. Harassment, vandalism and violence have no place at UCLA or anywhere in our city," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a post on X after clashes between police and student protesters at UCLA early today.
Bass said her office will coordinate with law enforcement, universities and community leaders "to keep campuses safe and peaceful."
74 arraigned after Tuesday protests at Columbia and CCNY, Manhattan DA says
After protests at both Columbia University and City College of New York on Tuesday, 74 people have been arraigned, the Manhattan DA's office said.
From Columbia, 46 people were arraigned on one count each of third-degree criminal trespass. All were arrested inside Hamilton Hall, the DA's office said.
At a news conference today, Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president of communications, said 13 people arrested inside Hamilton Hall were not affiliated with the university, six were from affiliated institutions, 14 were Columbia undergrads, nine were Columbia grad students, and two were Columbia employees.
At CCNY, 22 people were arraigned on one count each of third-degree burglary and obstructing governmental administration, the DA's office said.
They "unlawfully gained entry" to a CCNY building and "erected barricades to prevent police from entering the building," the DA's office said. They also blocked doors with furniture and threw items at police, it alleged.
In addition to the 22, five more people were arraigned on charges of second-degree assault, the DA's office said. It is unclear where the remaining five were arrested.