Public service announcement from the Spritzler Report:
Attn kids! You think Israel is screwing the pooch. So do I and millions of other Americans. You're not helping. It's perfectly fine to peacefully protest so long as you don't inconvenience others, break the law, and try to intimidate innocent people simply because they're Jewish.
In fact, you're strengthening the hand of the opposition...both parties in Congress who receive massive contributions and lobbying from the defense industry. They use your douchey behavior to trivialize and discredit anyone who disagrees with Bibi's agenda.
Cut it out!
Pro-Palestinian Encampments Spread, Leading to Hundreds of Arrests
Protests and encampments in support of Palestinians in Gaza have sprung up at colleges and universities across the country, and the police have intervened on several campuses.
By Anna Betts
Updated April 25, 2024
In the week since Columbia University started cracking down on pro-Palestinian protesters occupying a lawn on its campus, protests and encampments have sprung up at other colleges and universities across the country. Police interventions on several campuses have led to more than 400 arrests so far.
Student protests against the war in Gaza and against their schools’ financial and academic ties to Israel and to weapons manufacturers have intensified since Columbia initially cleared the encampment, on April 18. Scores of people have been arrested in recent days at Emerson College, the University of Southern California and the University of Texas at Austin.
Here is where encampments and protests have been reported over the last week by local news, student newspapers, social media posts and others. The New York Times has not been able to independently verify every report.
Where the police have intervened
Columbia University in Manhattan: New York City police officers arrested 108 demonstrators on April 18. Administrators set a deadline of midnight on Friday for protesters to dismantle their encampment and disband.
Emory University in Atlanta: Several dozen protesters set up tents on a campus lawn on Thursday, and police officers moved in, using what the Atlanta police later described as “chemical irritants” to disperse the demonstrators. An Emory official said that at least 28 people had been arrested, including 20 with ties to the school.
University of Southern California in Los Angeles: After students set up an encampment on Wednesday, Los Angeles police officers ordered them to disperse and arrested 93 people. Rocked by protests, the university announced on Thursday that it was canceling this year’s main commencement ceremony.
Emerson College in Boston: Students pitched tents on Sunday evening, according to the school’s student newspaper, The Berkeley Beacon. On Wednesday night, the Boston police arrested 108 people and cleared out the encampment. On Thursday, a spokeswoman for Emerson said that classes had been canceled for the day.
University of Texas at Austin: After students protested on Wednesday, the police arrested 57 people who refused to disperse, according to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. All of those who were arrested have already had their cases disposed, and most have been released from custody, the sheriff’s office said.
Indiana University in Bloomington: Student groups announced on Thursday that they had set up an encampment. According to the university police department, 33 people were removed from the encampment and taken to a county jail.
Princeton University in New Jersey: Students started to pitch tents on Thursday, according to a university spokeswoman. Officials said they had sent the protesters repeated warnings to clear the area, and two graduate students were arrested. The tents were voluntarily taken down afterward, officials said.
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata: Dozens of protesters were occupying an academic and administrative building on Wednesday morning, university officials said. The campus has remained closed since Monday after an attempt by the police to remove the protesters from the building turned violent, leading to three arrests. On Thursday, officials said that the campus would remain closed at least through Sunday.
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities: Nine people were taken into custody after they erected an encampment on Tuesday. The encampment was cleared Wednesday morning, but a student protester said it returned on Thursday. Among those who were detained, there were seven current and former students, one staff member and one person not affiliated with the university, a spokesman for the university said. All of the university-affiliated people were allowed back on campus, and the civil trespass warnings they received were “set aside.”
Ohio State University in Columbus: Protesters on Thursday formed an encampment, which a university spokesman said was in violation of school policy. They were asked to clear the tents, and three protesters who refused were arrested. Earlier in the week, two students were also arrested during an on-campus demonstration, university officials said.
Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.: About 200 students began setting up an encampment on campus Thursday, and police officers were present. When asked if any arrests will be made, an Evanston police officer said, “That’s Northwestern’s call.” Later in the day, university officials said demonstrators had removed their tents. When some protesters refused, they were cited by the Northwestern police, the university said.
Washington University in St. Louis: The police disbanded a protest and encampment on campus on Wednesday, according to the school’s newspaper.
University of Connecticut in Storrs: University police officers removed at least one tent from a rally on Thursday and arrested at least one person.
New York University in Manhattan: The New York Police Department made dozens of arrests late Monday after students occupied a plaza on campus.
Yale University in New Haven, Conn.: Hundreds of people have come out to protest since last week. On Monday, the police arrested more than 40 people.
Other schools where protesters have set up encampments
Harvard in Cambridge, Mass.: Students set up an encampment on Wednesday after the school closed Harvard Yard for the week. A pro-Palestinian group, the Harvard Palestinian Solidarity Committee, announced earlier in the week on social media that it had been suspended.
Brown University in Providence, R.I.: About 90 students set up an encampment on Wednesday morning and said that they would stay until they were forced to leave. The protest violated university policy, officials said in a statement, adding that the demonstrators had been informed they would face “conduct proceedings.”
University of California, Los Angeles: On Thursday morning, there were around 30 tents pitched on campus.
Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.: A coalition of student groups announced on Thursday morning that students had gathered before dawn to create a “liberated zone” on the campus. School officials have told the demonstrators to remove their tents by 1 p.m. on Thursday or face discipline, including suspension.
Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan: Videos posted on social media on Thursday showed an encampment had formed inside a university building, with protesters running inside.
Florida State University in Tallahassee: On Thursday morning, students began forming an encampment on campus. Later on Thursday, local media reported that the campus police made the students take down a handful of tents.
City College of New York in Manhattan: Videos on Thursday showed students erecting a “Gaza solidarity encampment.”
George Washington University in Washington: Nearly 70 students from George Washington University, along with students from nearby Georgetown University, established an encampment on Thursday. Later in the day, school officials notified students that they had requested the assistance of the D.C. Metropolitan Police to “relocate” the “unauthorized protest encampment.”
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia: Student groups announced on Thursday that they were establishing an encampment on campus.
Michigan State University in East Lansing: Around 35 students set up an encampment with about 18 tents on Thursday morning, according to the school’s student newspaper, The State News.
University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.: Students set up an encampment on the school’s River Campus on Tuesday, according to local news.
Tufts University in Medford, Mass.: About a dozen tents had been set up on the university’s academic quad by Wednesday morning. The Tufts encampment was not fenced off or surrounded by police officers or security personnel. A protester said he was unaware of any contact between protesters and the administration.
University of Delaware in Newark: Around 300 university students, staff and faculty members protested the war in Gaza on Wednesday, according to local news outlets. Social media posts suggested that an encampment had also been set up, but a university official denied that there had been one.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.: Students set up an encampment earlier this week. On Thursday morning, there was a small police presence around the encampment but no signs of tension between officers and protesters.
The New School in Manhattan: Protesters set up tents inside a school lobby, and two dozen students formed a picket line on Tuesday.
The University of California, Berkeley: Students have set up an encampment, according to local news reports.
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor: About 40 students set up an encampment on Monday morning, according to the school newspaper, The Michigan Daily.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte: An encampment was set up earlier this week, according to the school’s student newspaper, The Niner Times. But on Thursday, local media reported that school officials made students remove their tents.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Students set up an encampment on campus shortly after the Columbia students were arrested last week.
Rice University in Houston: Members of the Rice chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine formed what they called a “liberated zone” on campus on Tuesday, according to the school’s student newspaper. Student organizers posted videos and photos on Wednesday night showing that tents were still pitched there.
University of Pittsburgh: Videos posted online on Wednesday showed an encampment and tents pitched on the school’s campus.
Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa.: After students built an encampment on campus, school officials on Tuesday said that they would work with the organizers “to try to bring the situation to a peaceful conclusion.”
Schools with other forms of protest
University of Florida in Gainesville
University of Maryland in College Park
American University in Washington
University of Texas at Dallas
University of Texas at San Antonio
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Southern Maine in Portland
Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.
Loyola University in Chicago
University of California, Santa Barbara