Pro-Palestinian activists have set up encampments on at least eight college campuses across the U.S. in the wake of last week's police crackdown on protesters at Columbia University in New York City.
More than 100 people were arrested after Columbia's administration asked the city Police Department to break up the tent city erected on the Ivy League school's South Lawn in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan.
The protest at Columbia continued Monday as similar demonstrations erupted elsewhere:
Yale University
Nearly 50 people were arrested Monday morning when Yale police officers broke up an encampment on the Ivy League campus in New Haven, Connecticut, NBC Connecticut reported.
Protesters who had been sleeping in tents were awakened around 6:40 a.m. and asked to show identification, leading to misdemeanor trespassing charges against 47 who refused.
"The university made the decision to arrest those individuals who would not leave the Plaza, with the safety and security of the entire Yale community in mind and to allow access to university facilities by all members of our community," the school said in a statement.
About 200 protesters reportedly returned to the area around 8 a.m., with some chanting: "Free Palestine" and "We will not stop, we will not rest."
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
An encampment was set up Sunday night on Kresge Lawn at MIT's Boston campus, according to a message posted on social media by Ph.D. student Francesca Riccio-Ackerman.
"MIT has received OVER $11 MILLION in research funding from the Ministry of Defense of Israel since 2015," Riccio-Ackerman wrote. "We will NOT REST until MIT cuts research ties with the Israeli military."
The president of MIT's Israel Alliance, mechanical engineering student Talia Khan, also posted a video clip of protesters chanting and marching around the encampment.
And, it’s happened. The anti-Israel, pro-terrorist encampment is now up at @MIT. We are afraid to go near. pic.twitter.com/EMRIzMYmmJ
— Talia Khan (@TaliaKhan_MIT) April 22, 2024
"We are afraid to go near," Khan wrote.
New York University
The NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition set up an encampment in front of the university's Stern School of Business in Manhattan's Greenwich Village on Monday morning, the New York Post reported. A video clip posted on social media Monday afternoon showed hundreds of protesters at the scene, chanting to the beat of drums and metal pans.
BREAKING: NYU's Security crumbles as students rush into NYU's Gaza Solidarity Encampment. pic.twitter.com/lXqCvmg7pW
— Stu (@thestustustudio) April 22, 2024
The group's demands reportedly include that the university divest from companies that manufacture weapons or have "an interest in the Israeli occupation," closure of NYU's academic center in Tel Aviv, Israel, and the removal of city police officers from the campus.
Emerson College
A large group of students gathered Monday at an encampment that's blocking the Boylston Place alley on the Boston campus of Emerson College, NBC Boston reported.
The protesters are reportedly affiliated with the group Emerson Students for Justice in Palestine, and some said they were acting in support of the Columbia students arrested last week.
We're asking for the school to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, we're asking the school to disclose all financial ties to Zionist organizations and to divest from those organizations and we're asking the school to condemn the arrests at Columbia last week," said Emerson student Owen Buxton.
Boston police were monitoring the scene but no arrests were reported.
University of Michigan
Students set up tents on an area of the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan known as "the Diag," according to a Monday morning social media post by independent journalist Brendan Guteschwager. A video clip showed Palestinian flags attached to flag poles and banners that said: "Liberated Zone," "No $ for Genocide" and "Encampment for Gaza! Divest Now!"
BREAKING: ‘Encampment for Gaza’ set up at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, with tents out as students occupy The Diag on campus pic.twitter.com/nIdjuhwEPK
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) April 22, 2024
The New School
On Sunday, about a dozen students at the New School set up tents in the lobby of the University Center building near Manhattan's Union Square.
One tent had the words "Liberated Zone" hand-written on it in black letters, according to a video clip posted on YouTube.
In a message posted online Sunday, the school said that the protest was unauthorized but that university President Donna Shalala, a former U.S. secretary of health and human services secretary, was working to "resolve the situation."
"Because of the successful dialogue between the President and the students, there will be no charges for the demonstration," the school said in a statement.
Tufts University
An encampment was set up at Tufts, outside Boston, on Sunday night, according to local news reports.
Rutgers University
An encampment was established at the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey, according to the Jerusalem Post, which didn't provide additional details.
