Over 2,000 anti-Israel agitators have been arrested during anitsemitic protests on US college campuses
Nearly 2,200 anti-Israel agitators have been arrested at college campuses across the United States in recent weeks, as police were forced to use riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings to restore order.
These protesters are voicing their criticism of the Israel-Hamas war and the mounting Palestinian civilian death toll.
The monumental tally comes after more than 100 protesters were arrested during a crackdown at Columbia University, where officers cleared out protesters camped inside Hamilton Hall, an administration building, the NYPD said Thursday.
Earlier that same day, thousands of miles away, officers surged against a crowd of agitators at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), who fortified their encampment of canopies and tents with barricades of plywood, pallets, metal fences and dumpsters. Officers pulled down the barriers and ultimately arrested at least 200 protesters after they defied orders to leave.
The protesters at UCLA were similarly calling on its university to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support Israel’s war with the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
A tally by The Associated Press recorded at least 56 unique arresting incidents at 43 different U.S. colleges or universities since April 18.
On Thursday, Sgt. Alejandro Rubio of the California Highway Patrol, citing data from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said at least 200 people were arrested at UCLA.
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That same day, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said 30 anti-Israel protesters were arrested at Portland State University.
And, on Thursday, Jacksonville Sheriff's officers arrested more than a dozen anti-Israel protesters at the University of North Florida.
Police arrested 90 people and took down tents at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
On April 24, police at the University of Southern California arrested 93 protesters, including 51 students.
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Prosecutors said Thursday that authorities arrested 28 protesters at City College of New York this week.
On April 18, the NYPD cleared Columbia's initial encampment and arrested roughly 100 protesters. The demonstrators set up new tents and defied threats of suspension.
Additional incidents happened at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and Cal Poly Humboldt.
Meanwhile, protest encampments at other schools across the U.S. have been cleared by police — resulting in more arrests — or closed voluntarily.
Officials at other schools, including the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University in suburban Chicago, Rutgers University in New Jersey and Brown University in Rhode Island reached an agreement with protesters not to disrupt commencements or made similar compromises.
After days of silence, President Biden finally addressed the massive movement on Thursday, when he defended the right of students to peaceful protest but decried violence.
The demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 with students calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas terrorists carried out the deadliest attack in Israel’s history when they killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7 and took roughly 250 hostages back into Gaza.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.