Nearly 200 protesters gathered at Northeastern University, Arizona State University and Indiana University on Saturday, officials said, as universities across the country struggle to quell a growing number of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments on campus. arrested.
More than 700 protesters have been arrested on U.S. campuses since Columbia University ordered New York City police to clear the school's protest camps on April 18. In some cases, most of those arrested have been released.
At Northeastern in Boston, protesters set up an encampment on the campus's Centennial Common this week, drawing more than 100 supporters. The administration asked the protesters to leave, but many students did not comply.
Around dawn Saturday, Massachusetts State Police troopers arrived at the encampment and began arresting protesters, handcuffing them with zip ties and removing some tents. They announced the arrest of 102 protesters. It is unclear how many of those arrested were students, but the university said students who presented their university IDs had been released.
Northeastern spokeswoman Renata Nüll said the demonstrations were “infiltrated by professional organizers,” adding: “The use of malicious anti-Semitic slurs such as 'kill the Jews' is a red line. I have surpassed it.”
The demonstrators denied both claims, and a video was released showing that it was pro-Israel counter-demonstrators who used the phrase as part of their criticism of the chants of pro-Palestinian demonstrators. In response to the video, Nur stood by her original comments, adding: “Any suggestion that offensive and anti-Semitic comments can be tolerated in some circumstances is reprehensible.”
The protesters were removed from the camp by police, handcuffed and taken to a nearby building before moving to block off a nearby alley where police cars were parked. They cheered as one of the arrested protesters, wearing a Northeastern sweatshirt, waved his zip-tied hands from the building's window.
Alina Caudle, a sophomore at Northeastern University, reiterated protesters' demands for the university to disclose its investments and divest from companies that protesters see as supporting Israel's war in Gaza. .
“We want them to sell the money that we pay for tuition,” Caudle said. “Our administration doesn't listen to us.”
Caudle said she believed the majority of students in the camp were from Northeastern and that a large number of Jewish students and faculty were also supporting the protests.
By 11 a.m. Saturday, most of the encampment had been cleared. Movers came and loaded up tents, snacks and other items that were scattered around the property.
The mass arrests at Northeastern are the second early morning crackdown on protesters on Boston's campus in less than a week. Early Thursday morning, Boston police arrested 118 people after protesters refused to move and barricaded themselves at Emerson College.
More than 4,500 miles away at Arizona State University, school police arrested 69 people early Saturday for setting up unauthorized encampments in violation of university policies, school officials announced.
The school said the protesters had set up a camp and were told multiple times to disperse.
“While the university remains an environment that embraces free speech, ASU's top priority is to create a safe and secure environment that supports teaching and learning,” school officials said in a statement.
Three people were also arrested at the school in connection with Friday's protests, officials said.
At Indiana University Bloomington, university police arrested 33 people at an encampment earlier this week, and campus and state police arrested 23 more protesters on Saturday. Officials said a group “indicated their intention to occupy university space indefinitely and set up numerous tents and canopies on Friday night.”
Halina Bennett contributed reporting.