25 arrested at University of Virginia amid pro-Palestinian campus activity across US
Dozens arrested for criminal trespass outside the Art Institute of Chicago; students disrupt Michigan University commencement ceremony
Twenty-five people were arrested Saturday for trespassing at the University of Virginia as police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters who refused to remove tents from the campus.
Students across the US have rallied or set up tents at dozens of universities to protest the months-long war in Gaza and call on US President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel, to do more to stop the bloodshed in Gaza. They also demand their schools divest from companies that support Israel’s government, such as arms suppliers.
The University of Virginia said in a news release that protesters had violated several university policies including setting up tents on Friday night and using amplified sound.
On Saturday, a video from WVAW-TV showed police wearing heavy gear and holding shields lined up on the campus in Charlottesville. Protesters chanted “Free Palestine,” and university police said on the social platform X that an “unlawful assembly” had been declared in the area.
In a statement, school president Jim Ryan said demonstrators were told the tents and canopies they erected were prohibited under school policy and were asked to remove them. Virginia State Police were asked to help with enforcement when attempts by university police “to resolve the situation were met with physical confrontation and attempted assault.”
“This afternoon, the police declared an unlawful assembly, issued no-trespass orders to those who refused to disperse, and arrested those who continued to refuse dispersal,” Ryan said.
He called the episode “upsetting, frightening, and sad,” blaming a small group of rule-breakers for the trouble and claiming, without evidence, that they included people unaffiliated with the school.
University of Virginia just got wild as Virginia State Police were attacked by pro-Palestine extremists.
Police were forced to respond by spraying tear gas, using their shields and arresting the attackers.
— ShivRaj Yadav (@shivayadav87_) May 5, 2024
As police moved in, students were pushed to the ground, pulled by their arms, and sprayed with a chemical irritant, Laura Goldblatt, an assistant professor of English and global studies who has been helping student demonstrators, told The Washington Post.
“Our concern since this began has been the safety of our students. Students are not safe right now,” Goldblatt said.
Dozens of people were also arrested for criminal trespass outside the Art Institute of Chicago at a demonstration on Saturday after the institute called in police to remove protesters it said were illegally occupying its property, the Chicago Police Department said on X.
Administration has called in the SWAT team and begun making arrests at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Gaza solidarity encampment. pic.twitter.com/g3xHbuBmeq
— War Watch (@WarWatchs) May 4, 2024
Also on Saturday, students at the University of Michigan chanted anti-war messages and waved flags during commencement ceremonies.
The protest occurred at the beginning of the event at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. About 75 people, many wearing traditional Arabic kaffiyehs along with their graduation caps, marched up the main aisle toward the graduation stage.
They chanted, “Regents, regents, you can’t hide! You are funding genocide!” while holding signs, including one that read: “No universities left in Gaza.”
Overhead, planes flew banners with competing messages. “Divest from Israel now! Free Palestine!” and “We stand with Israel. Jewish lives matter.”
Officials said no one was arrested, and the protest didn’t seriously interrupt the nearly two-hour event, which was attended by tens of thousands of people, some of them waving Israeli flags.
State police prevented the demonstrators from reaching the stage and university spokesperson Colleen Mastony said public safety personnel escorted the protesters to the rear of the stadium, where they remained through the conclusion of the event.
“Peaceful protests like this have taken place at U-M commencement ceremonies for decades,” she added.
US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro paused a few times during his remarks due to the protests. Before administering an oath to graduates in the armed forces, Del Toro said they would “protect the freedoms that we so cherish,” including the “right to protest peacefully.”
The university has allowed protesters to set up an encampment on campus, but police assisted in breaking up a large gathering at a graduation-related event Friday night, and one person was arrested.
Protests at other universities also led to tensions around graduation ceremonies.
Indiana University’s student newspaper reported that pro-Palestinian protests briefly interrupted the school’s main commencement ceremony, with demonstrators shouting “free Palestine” and “resign” several times during speeches by IU President Pamela Whitten and Provost Rahul Shrivastav.
The Daily Student reported that friction flared near the school’s iconic Sample Gates as graduates attempting to take post-commencement pictures were disturbed by protesters holding signs and chanting. Two separate people confronted the demonstrators, yelling at them, the newspaper reported, and protesters then returned to their main encampment.
Planes pulling pro-Palestinian banners were reportedly also spotted flying over that ceremony.
Spotted above the stadium that's currently holding Indiana University's commencement ceremony. Photo by @dgr93. pic.twitter.com/tHJTa6FsEv
— George Hale (@georgehale) May 4, 2024
At Princeton, in New Jersey, 18 students launched a hunger strike in an effort to push the university to divest from companies tied to Israel.
One of them, senior David Chmielewski, said in an email that the strike started Friday morning with participants consuming water only, and would continue until administrators meet with students about demands including amnesty from criminal and disciplinary charges for protesters.
Other demonstrators are participating in “solidarity fasts” lasting 24 hours, Chmielewski said.
Princeton students had set up a protest encampment and some held a sit-in at an administrative building last week, leading to about 15 arrests.
Students at other colleges, including Brown and Yale, launched similar hunger strikes earlier this year before the more recent wave of encampments.
In Medford, Massachusetts, students at Tufts University peacefully took down their encampment without police intervention Friday night.
School officials said they were pleased with the development, which wasn’t the result of any agreement. Protest organizers said in a statement that they were “deeply angered and disappointed” that negotiations with the university had failed.
The protests stem from the conflict that started October 7 when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 253 people of all ages hostages in Gaza.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 34,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so far, a figure that cannot be independently verified and includes some 13,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Demonstrators have gathered on at least 40 US university campuses since April 17, often erecting tent camps to protest against the soaring death toll in the Gaza Strip.
Nearly 2,000 people have been detained, according to US media, in demonstrations reminiscent of protests against the Vietnam War.
The Associated Press has recorded at least 61 incidents since April 18 in which arrests were made at protests, with more than 2,400 people being arrested on 47 campuses. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
Some schools have reached agreements with protesters to end the demonstrations and reduce the possibility of disrupting final exams and commencements.
In recent days, police have forcibly dismantled several student sit-ins, including one at New York University at the request of its administrators.
Demonstrators barricaded inside Columbia University, the epicenter in New York of the student protests, complained of police brutality when officers cleared the faculty.
At the University of California, Los Angeles, hundreds of police emptied a camp, tearing down barriers and detaining more than 200 protesters.
Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks and violent threats, protest organizers say theirs is a peaceful movement to defend Palestinian rights and protest the war.
