Law enforcement authorities on Thursday cracked down on pro-Palestinian protesters at Atlanta's Emory University campus using tear gas, tasers and rubber bullets, according to media reports.
Organizers of the demonstration criticized authorities for the attack by local and state police on protesters Thursday at a tent encampment set up on the campus.
"The Georgia State Patrol, Atlanta Police Department, and Emory Police Department all bear responsibility for this overt act of terrorism," they said in a statement.
"Despite the violence authorized by Emory President Greg Fenves and Dean of Campus Life Enku Gelaye, protestors continue their action on campus and call for the broader Atlanta community to join them," it added.
Police and Emory said protesters refused to leave the scene when they moved in, threw "objects." Authorities said officers used a taser on at least one protester — twice — and employed pepper balls, but did not confirm that tear gas was used, Atlanta's WSB-TV 2 reported.
Emory insisted in a statement that protesters were "largely not affiliated with Emory, and were disrupting the university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals."
This is "completely unacceptable," the statement added. "The Emory Police Department notified these individuals that they were trespassing. When they refused to leave, law enforcement cleared the quad."
Similar scenes have unfolded on college campuses nationwide as students pressure universities to divest from Israeli businesses and for the federal government to cease its support for Israel's military actions amid the barrage in the Gaza Strip that has killed some 34,000 Palestinians.
Israel launched the attacks after more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds of hostages taken in an assault by Hamas in early October.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp defended the police action at Emory. But Democrati Rep. Hank Johnson said he was disturbed by the involvement of the Georgia State Patrol, and noted that students have a First Amendment right to peacefully express their positions.
