April 25, 2024 - US university protests

Travis County Sheriff's office said Thursday that 57 arrests were made at the University of Texas, Austin campus.

On Wednesday university police had warned students in an email that they faced more arrests if they didn't disperse from the site.

Assistant Police Chief Ashley Griffin wrote in the email that protesters were violating the law and could be arrested for disorderly conduct, rioting, and obstructing a highway or other passageway, according to an email obtained by CNN.

Some context: The Palestine Solidarity Committee in Austin organized a walkout and occupation on the school's South Lawn in Austin.

It led to multiple confrontations between police officers, state troopers "in full riot gear with batons" and the students, Amelia Kimball, associate managing editor at The Daily Texan, told CNN News Central.

"I don't think students were expecting this kind of a response," she said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Columbia University President Nemat "Minouche" Shafik to resign during a tense press conference Wednesday.

The crowd repeatedly interrupted the speaker and booed him and other GOP lawmakers who were with him as they stood at the mics. 

Johnson visited Columbia University to meet Jewish students and delivered remarks along with other Republican lawmakers. Johnson’s words come as he faces his own onslaught of conservative criticism and as a handful of House members have threatened to oust him.

The speaker said he met with Shafik and other top university administrators Wednesday and urged her to take immediate action to address the unrest on campus.

"Our feeling is that they have not acted to restore order on the campus,” he said. 

Johnson said he would call President Joe Biden immediately after departing the campus and demand he take action, not ruling out the need for the National Guard to step in at some point.  

Althea, a Jewish student in the encampment, said she’s been subject to harassment being part of the pro-Palestinian movement on the Columbia University campus.

She wears a Star of David necklace and a keffiyeh, which has become a symbol of Palestinian identity. She said her family has roots in the Middle East, and that she’s a Mizrahi Jew. 

She asked not to be referred to by her last name for privacy concerns.  

Althea said combatting anti-Semitism and Islamophobia go hand in hand. 

“I would honestly say that the biggest threat to us on campus right now is the heavy presence of NYPD,” she said. 

She said Palestinian rights came to the forefront of her consciousness after she visited Israel last year through a trip organized by the campus Hillel. She said she visited a town on the Mediterranean coast where on one side was a Palestinian town and the other was an Israeli. 

 The encampment at Columbia observes the Muslim daily prayers as well as Seder for the Jewish holiday of Passover.  

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Texas at Austin would continue "until the crowd disperses."

State troopers in riot gear, including some on horseback, were seen by CNN affiliate KEYE breaking up a group of protesters at demonstrations at the University on Wednesday.

The Palestine Solidarity Committee in Austin organized the walkout and occupation on the school's South Lawn.

Amelia Kimball, an associate managing editor at The Daily Texan, told CNN there was a "physical clash" between students and police at UT Austin on Wednesday.

Abbott called for the expulsion of any students protesting in Texas. "Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled," he wrote.

However, Democratic Rep. Greg Casar, whose district covers part of Austin, was critical of the police response to protesters in a post on social media.

President Joe Biden will be in New York City on Friday, but White House and campaign officials said there have been no internal discussions about him visiting Columbia University.

Some demonstrators say the Biden administration is complicit in the deaths of the many thousands of civilians in Gaza.

Groups of senior White House officials have traveled to cities with large Muslim and Arab populations in recent weeks to meet with local community leaders and hear their concerns — gatherings that have at times prompted calls for boycotts.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Tuesday that the White House was monitoring “closely” the protests on college campuses and that Biden takes seriously the conversations he has had with community leaders about the current “painful moment.”

As universities across the US continue to see pro-Palestinian protests, data shows that only about 7% of younger Americans strongly favor the US providing military aid to Israel in its war against Hamas, while 29% strongly oppose it.

About 30% of US adults over the age of 65 strongly favor providing military aid, while about 9% strongly oppose it, according to Pew Research Center.

According to Pew Research Center, there is no big age difference among US adults regarding whether the country should provide aid to Gaza, with 25-33% strongly in favor of doing so.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law an aid package worth $95 billion that includes $26 billion for Israel. 

The dean of Columbia College, the undergraduate liberal arts college at Columbia University, sent in an email to alumni Wednesday that the protests were a "difficult moment" for the New York school.

“I have heard from numerous alumni, parents and students voicing their thoughts on what they have witnessed personally or observed from a distance in recent days.”

Sorett stressed “several key points regarding the situation on and around campus,” including “unacceptable instances of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus.”