Escalation at US universities

There was also a massive police operation in New York. There were violent clashes at the renowned University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). According to CNN, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators attacked each other. The demonstrators from the pro-Palestinian protest camp had erected barricades made of plywood. These were torn down by the counter-demonstrators. Television footage showed protesters from both sides attacking each other with sticks. Others fired fireworks or threw objects at each other. The spokesman for the mayor of Los Angeles announced on the X platform that the police had immediately responded to the university administration’s request for support. A woman blows bubbles during a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas at Austin.
Player: audioGaza demonstrations at US universities: Are they changing US policy?
04/30/2024
Protests at US universities
Everything like back then against the Vietnam War?
University management condemns violence The university management had previously described the camp as illegal and asked the demonstrators to leave the premises. UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said that while many demonstrators had “behaved peacefully”, “the tactics of others were frankly shocking and shameful”. He also spoke of the actions “that are in stark contrast to our values as an institution”. “We have seen cases of violence,” Block said.
These incidents have left many on our campus, especially our Jewish students, in a state of fear and terror.
Block also announced that security measures would be increased. Accordingly, a larger number of police officers and security personnel will be present on the university campus. Block also wants to have the recent acts of violence investigated criminally.
Police officers at Columbia University.
Player: audioPolice move against university occupiers on New York’s Columbia campus, Gaza protests escalate
Police move against university occupiers on US campus
University management: “Unbearable” atmosphere for Jewish students Police also moved against protesting students at the elite Columbia University in New York. In the evening, a large police contingent streamed onto the campus. The officers also entered the university building occupied by demonstrators. There were several arrests – around 100 according to the US broadcaster NBC. Dozens of tents in the so-called solidarity camp on the grounds were searched by the police. University President Minouche Shafik had complained that many of the Jewish students found the atmosphere prevailing at Columbia University in recent weeks “unbearable” and had therefore left the university. In a letter to the New York Police Department, Shafik stated that the occupation of the building was led by people who were not connected to the university. Suspicion of non-student participation At a press conference, Mayor Eric Adams and police officials stated that the occupation was instigated by external people who were not connected to the university and were known to law enforcement. The police based their conclusions in part on the escalating behavior of the occupiers, such as vandalism, the erection of barricades and the destruction of security cameras. Adams suggested that some of the protesting students were not fully aware of this influence within their ranks. One of the leaders of the protests, Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil, denied the claim that outsiders had initiated the occupation. “It is students,” he told the Reuters news agency. This is already the second major police operation on the New York campus: almost two weeks ago, the New York Police Department had already moved against demonstrators.