Police deployed on US campuses as Gaza war protest unrest simmers
- Police are cracking down on Pro-Palestinian demonstrations at major US universities
- At least 1,600 people have been arrested at 30 campuses since April 18, tally shows
Tensions are boiling over at college campuses across the United States as police move in to break up protest encampments, clear out occupied buildings, and make arrests.
On Wednesday, police tore down a protest encampment at the University of Texas, arresting more than a dozen people, as unrest over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza simmered on US campuses.
Officers also detained several people at Fordham University in New York and cleared an encampment set up inside a school building, officials said, and law enforcement were on standby at Columbia University across town after mass arrests the previous evening.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology protesters dug in, blocking an avenue near the centre of the campus in Cambridge during the height of Wednesday afternoon’s rush hour commute.
And dozens of police cars patrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles in response to violent clashes overnight when counterprotesters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian students.
