May 1, 2024 - US campus protests

Our live coverage of the protests at US colleges has moved here

The University of Southern California reopened its campus to the school community Wednesday night after temporarily closing because “demonstrators unaffiliated with USC” were protesting next to the campus, the school said.

The protesters were gathered at the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street, the school said in a post at around 8 p.m. It was not clear what they were protesting. 

Shortly after 9 p.m., the school said the demonstrators had left the area and the campus was reopened to “students, staff, faculty, and registered guests.”

UCLA police over loudspeaker told those in the encampment to leave a little before 8 p.m. PT Wednesday evening.

Police are warning those in the encampment they may be “in violation of the law and subject to administrative actions.”

The Los Angeles Police Department has issued a city-wide “tactical alert” related to the unlawful assembly declared at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA, a law enforcement source told CNN. 

The alert notifies all LAPD personnel that they could be called on tonight to assist with the ongoing situation on campus, if needed.

During a tactical alert, some lower-priority calls for police services may not be addressed.

The large law enforcement presence on UCLA’s campus is comprised of several agencies to perform specific tasks to clear the encampment, according to a source familiar with law enforcement plans:

Law enforcement on site will be equipped with protective gear, including gas masks, according to the source. The UCLA hospital will also be on standby to receive anyone who may be injured, the source said.

State police were deployed to the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College due to “illegal activity and at the request of local law enforcement,” the New Hampshire Department of Safety told CNN.

“All individuals who were taken into custody are being processed by the University of New Hampshire Police Department and the Hanover Police Department,” said Tyler Dumont, New Hampshire Department of Safety spokesman.
“The members of the New Hampshire State Police are committed to protecting the constitutional rights of Granite Staters while also ensuring those who violate the law are held accountable.”

The University of New Hampshire told CNN that students supporting Palestinians had peacefully protested on campus at least seven times over the past six months.

“Despite much communication with organizers regarding the University’s expectations for conduct when exercising their free speech rights, those guidelines were ignored today. Protesters erected tents in an attempt to create an encampment on UNH property.”

The university said it will protect free speech on campus but “will not allow it to be co-opted by a small group of protesters, including outside agitators.”

CNN has reached out to Dartmouth College for comment. 

Multiple people were arrested during an ongoing pro-Palestinian protest at Dartmouth College on Wednesday night, according to CNN affiliate WMUR.

Multiple people have been arrested during an ongoing pro-Palestinian protest at Dartmouth College on Wednesday night, according to CNN affiliate WMUR.

Video from WMUR shows police pulling protesters one-by-one from the crowd gathered on the Dartmouth Green and detaining them with zip ties.

Protesters can be heard chanting “Free Palestine” while holding banners and flags.

The crowd appears to be a mix of students and members of the community, WMUR says.

Approximately 16 people were arrested Wednesday night after a pro-Palestine protest at the University at Buffalo’s North Campus, including students and “other individuals not affiliated with the University at Buffalo,” the school said in a release.

Those people were arrested after being “advised of, and failing to comply, with an order to disperse for a violation of UB’s Picketing and Assembling Policy that prohibits encampments and overnight assemblies,” the release reads.

“While many protesters peacefully left the area after being advised multiple times by UB Police that those remaining at the protest would be arrested if they did not disperse at dusk, unfortunately some individuals elected to ignore the requests of UB Police and were arrested.”

“A few individuals” attempted to resist arrest, and two officers were assaulted, the release reads.

In an earlier release, the university said its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine originally organized a march at the North Campus on Wednesday. 

Around 50 people, including students and others not affiliated with the university, continued to protest into Wednesday evening, the university said.

Many left the area after warnings from university police to disperse at dusk, but others were arrested outside of Hochstetter Hall, the university said.

“While the decision to arrest individuals occurred after multiple discussions, communications and warnings to protesters, UB Police prioritized the safety and security of the university community by upholding and enforcing all applicable laws, SUNY rules and UB polices.”

The university said it recognizes and respects the right to protest but emphasized that overnight assemblies and indoor and outdoor encampments are prohibited.

“The university recognizes and respects the right to protest afforded under the First Amendment,” the release announcing the arrests reads. “However, those members of the university community and visitors who wish to express their viewpoints through picketing and other forms of demonstration are permitted to peacefully do so but must not violate the provisions of the Rules for the Maintenance of Public Order of the SUNY Board of Trustees and must adhere to UB’s Picketing and Assembling Policy, including the prohibition of overnight assemblies, and indoor and outdoor encampments.”

Five tents were previously placed on campus but were removed by protesters after they were advised by university staff and police.

Law enforcement has declared an unlawful assembly for a pro-Palestinian encampment at the university’s quad, a source familiar with the situation tells CNN. 

Declaring a gathering unlawful is a step police typically take before ordering individuals to disperse or face arrest.

CNN witnessed more than 100 law enforcement officers from various agencies entering the campus Wednesday, including a stream of officers wearing riot helmets and carrying zip ties.

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03:39 - Source: cnn

Aerial video from CNN affiliate KABC shows dozens of police vehicles and a law enforcement mobile command post gathered at the FBI’s Los Angeles field office parking lot, which is approximately one mile from the UCLA encampment. 

Hundreds of people had gathered outside the encampment Wednesday evening, most appearing to be seated on the ground across from the entrance to the camp, the aerial footage shows. Inside the encampment, more than 80 tents lined the grass as people busily wove through the area.

By around 8:30 p.m., a growing line of LAPD officers had formed between the encampment and the outside group of protesters, according to a CNN crew on the scene.

Several dozen people dressed in black with white masks repeatedly attacked UCLA’s protest encampment Tuesday night with crude weapons, including poles and incendiaries, according to video provided to CNN by William Gude, 49, who routinely films and shares videos of police conduct in Los Angeles. 

Gude told CNN he arrived at the encampment area before the chaos ensued at around 9:15 p.m. local time Tuesday night and said he filmed hours worth of footage, showing what led up to the incident and what followed. 

In a video shared with CNN, which captured what Gude says was the first 24 minutes of the incident, individuals dressed in black can be seen making several attempts to remove the barricades in front of the pro-Palestinian encampment and breach the encampment as the protesters inside used mace to defend themselves. 

At times, individuals from each camp engage in furtive one-on-one skirmishes in the area between the two groups. Gude described what he saw as “a sustained attack for three and a half, almost four hours, by one side against the other.”

He described the attackers as pro-Israel based on the remarks they used in the video. Additionally, the video shows at least two people with Israeli flags and another wearing a hoodie that reads: “Free our hostages.”

Multiple videos posted online show the individuals dressed in black attacking the pro-Palestinian protesters with sticks. In other videos, the pro-Palestinian protesters can be seen getting kicked and punched. Some videos posted on social media show officers at the scene but not engaging with the crowd.  

Gude told CNN the UCLA Police Department arrived at the scene about an hour into the attack. Later, the California Highway Patrol arrived, followed by the Los Angeles Police Department. None of the departments moved in to de-escalate the situation, Gude said, until much later. 

Gude approximates he first saw officers arrive at around 11:15 p.m. and he says none engaged with the crowd until 2:30 a.m.

The LAPD referred CNN to UCLA Police. CNN has reached out to all three departments and the university regarding the incident. 

Classes at the University of California, Los Angeles, will be remote on Thursday and Friday, the university said on its public safety website.

“Employees are encouraged to work remotely wherever possible and should consult with their supervisors. Events and research activities are encouraged to go remote or be rescheduled wherever possible,” a website update posted Wednesday evening read.

Classes at UCLA were canceled Wednesday after a violent confrontation broke out between protesters and counterprotesters at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on campus.

No arrests were made at the University of California, Los Angeles campus early Wednesday after a violent confrontation erupted between protesters and counter-protesters at the site of a pro-Palestine encampment, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release posted on X. 

LAPD said it did not use force on protesters and no officers were injured.

“The Los Angeles Police Department, along with other local law-enforcement agencies will remain in the area to ensure public safety until the situation is resolved,” the release read. 

LAPD and several other state and local agencies responded to the campus after UCLA requested help amid “reports of violent clashes between protesters,” the release added. 

The two groups were eventually separated, LAPD said, though they did not indicate what time they responded and when the violence stopped.

CNN has reached out to the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, UCLA Police and the university for more information.

Fordham University said a handful of protests on its campus have been peaceful until today, when at least 15 people were arrested after dozens of protesters set up an encampment inside the university’s Lowenstein building, according to a statement from the school. 

“Today was different. We draw the line at intrusions into a classroom building, especially by people who are not members of our community. (There is a difference between free speech and people barging into your home to shout.),” the school said in a statement to the Fordham community Wednesday night.
“Outside of Lowenstein, hundreds of protesters came from elsewhere, drawn by social media invitations to support the few protesters on the other side of the window,” the school said. “The growing crowd outside banged on the glass so violently we worried they would break it. We worried that the protesters would rush further into campus.”

Some of the 15 people arrested Wednesday are believed to be Fordham students, the statement read.

This decision to call in police was for the “physical protection of the campus,” The statement read.

Carlos Giraldo Sanchez, an Austin Fox 7 television photojournalist, charged with two misdemeanors following his arrest at the University of Texas at Austin last week, according to a statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) on Wednesday.

Sanchez, 43, was charged with “assault and interference with public duties,” DPS said, adding that he was taken to Travis County Jail.

DPS said that Sanchez was seen moving toward a DPS Trooper and then “lunging and striking the Trooper with his camera in the lower head and neck area.”

“While journalists should be provided access, it is never acceptable to interfere with official police duties and assaulting an officer of the law – no matter the degree – will never be tolerated,” DPS went on to say.

Sanchez’ attorney, Gerry Morris, released a statement to CNN affiliate KEYE-TV saying:

“Mr. Sanchez was performing an important news gathering function during a chaotic event when he inadvertently bumped into a police officer. He did not commit a crime. We look forward to someone taking a unbiased look at the evidence and exonerating Mr. Sanchez. That may ultimately occur with a jury.”

Officials continue to survey damage from several buildings and grounds at the City College of New York after demonstrators smashed glass doors, graffitied walls and ransacked public property Tuesday night, officials said.

“During preliminary cleanup, public safety officers uncovered chains, flares, a bolt cutter and box cutters in three bags left by the protesters in the building. We have not yet determined the cost of repairs,” the City University of New York (CUNY) said in a statement.

The City College of New York is the founding institution of CUNY and is home to eight schools and divisions, according to the school’s website.

CNN’s Zenebou Sylla contributed to this report.

At least 17 arrests have been made at the University of Texas at Dallas campus as of Wednesday evening, school officials say.

Protesters began making an encampment on campus on Wednesday morning. Officials gave a written notice to “remove all tents and structures,” which they refused, a spokesperson with UT Dallas told CNN in an email.

Law enforcement removed the encampment and arrested at least 17 individuals for criminal trespass. It is unclear if any of these individuals are students.

“Individuals may peacefully assemble in the common outdoor areas of campus to exercise their right to free speech, but they may not construct an encampment or block pathways,” the university said.

The New York Police Department arrested at least 15 people Wednesday after dispersing a protest encampment on the campus of Fordham University Lincoln Center, the department said.

The NYPD said the number of arrests is expected to increase throughout the evening but did not elaborate.

It was unclear whether there would be any charges or summons for the individuals arrested, the NYPD said.

Fordham requested the NYPD’s assistance in a letter Wednesday, saying in part that it wanted to prevent further escalation.

The school asked the NYPD to be on campus through at least May 22 “to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished,” the school said in a letter posted to social media by the NYPD.

The University of Arizona said in a statement Wednesday that “law enforcement had little choice but to take significant measures” after protesters engaged in “dangerous actions” while officials tried dispersing them.

“Hundreds of protestors and counter-protestors (sic) gathered on Park Avenue, creating a volatile environment,” Robert C. Robbins, the school’s president, said in the statement. “At my direction and in consultation with the University of Arizona Office of Public Safety and UAPD, supported by partner law enforcement agencies, a plan was implemented to clear the area with an emphasis on protecting everyone.”

While trying to move protesters, law enforcement made “minimal use” of pepper balls, rubber bullets and wore tactical safety gear “to disperse the crowd and to protect themselves and others while clearing the area,” according to Robbins. 

Robbins said police ultimately arrested one undergraduate student, a graduate student and two people unaffiliated with the university. 

There were no significant injuries that the school is aware of, Robbins said. 

Hundreds of protesters have been arrested in the past 24 hours at college campuses across the country. The majority of demonstrations have called on schools to divest from companies that support Israel and the war in Gaza.

One person was hospitalized after clashes escalated between law enforcement and protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles after a violent confrontation between pro-Palestinian protesters and counterprotesters Tuesday night.

In New York, about 300 protesters were arrested overnight at Columbia University and City College after officers cleared encampments and an occupied building. 

Here’s what’s happening across the country:

Here’s what else to know:

Fordham University Lincoln Center asked the New York Police Department to be on campus through at least May 22 “to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished,” the school said in a letter posted to social media by the NYPD.

Commencement and diploma ceremonies would be completed at that time, according to the letter.

“We trust that you will take care and caution when removing any individual from our campus,” the school said in the letter. “The safety and security of our community is our highest priority.”
“Fordham is committed to allowing members of our community to engage in political expression – within established rules and respect for the safety of all,” the letter read. “The policies we have in place around demonstrations are in place to support the right to expression and the safety and functioning of our University.”

The New York Police Department arrested individuals Wednesday afternoon after dispersing a protest encampment on the campus of Fordham University Lincoln Center, the NYPD said in a social media post. 

The university requested the NYPD’s assistance, saying in part that it wanted to prevent further escalation, according to a letter posted by NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry.

“In an effort to ensure that further escalation does not occur, I have determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to persons, property, and the substantial functioning of the University, and require the use of emergency authority to protect persons and property,” the letter read.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is investigating “bias reports involving individuals from outside of our campus community,” Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin said in a letter to the campus community Wednesday.

“The presence of non-community members, including, reportedly, several highly aggressive individuals, is one of the predictable harms of an encampment like the one illegally staged on our campus and is one of the reasons we chose to act today,” she wrote.

Approximately 30 protesters were cited and “several others” were arrested Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after resisting “police action to remove tents or otherwise interfered with the operation,” Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin said in a letter to the campus community.

“This morning, those present at the encampment were given several warnings during which time they were offered the opportunity to peacefully leave the encampment with their belongings and avoid being either cited or arrested. These warnings followed prior communications, including two messages from campus leaders, that clearly delineated the expectation of consequences if the encampment was not removed,” the letter said.
“Now that the illegal activity has been resolved, students and others are free to resume peaceful protest that abides by campus protest guidelines today or at any time in the future. Our operation focused only on the tents and the encampment, which constituted the only prohibited activity,” Mnookin wrote, and emphasized the school’s support for peaceful protest and free expression.

Of the arrests made on New York University’s campus last week, fewer than half were current students, faculty and staff, according to the university.

On April 22, 133 individuals were arrested on Gould Plaza on campus and 65 were current students, faculty and staff, the university said in a news release Wednesday.

“I never thought that as president I would need to rely on the NYPD to secure the safety of our community,” President Linda G. Mills said in the statement.

Mills added that officials were forced to lock down multiple buildings on campus that evening for safety reasons.

Fifteen people were injured and one was hospitalized after protesters and counterprotesters clashed overnight at the University of California, Los Angeles, authorities said on Wednesday.

The UC Office of the President is ordering “an independent external review” looking at the school’s actions, UC President Michael V. Drake said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

“Such a review will help us address many immediate questions but also help guide us in possible future events,” he said. The office also “requested a detailed accounting from the campus about what transpired in the early morning hours today.”

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the school is conducting a “thorough investigation” of the violence, adding that it “may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals.” Block said the school is also reviewing its own security processes.

A man in his 20s was transported to the hospital for a head injury Tuesday night and his condition is unknown, the Los Angeles Fire Department told CNN.

This post has been updated with additional information from the chancellor.

Earlier this year, an 18-year-old high school senior from New York City had planned to enroll at Columbia University’s sister school Barnard College in Manhattan as an early decision student. But after her parents saw heightened tensions over the Israel-Gaza conflict surface across some US campuses, including at Barnard and Columbia, they went back to her list.

The student, who spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity over privacy concerns, ultimately chose Brandeis University in Massachusetts, one of only two schools on the Anti-Defamation League’s 2024 list of 85 colleges that received an A grade for its response to antisemitic incidents on campus and its support for Jewish students.

“Barnard was my top choice. I was so dead set on going,” said the private school student, who is Jewish. “But after seeing what is happening on campuses, I feel so glad I am going to Brandeis. I feel really happy and safe knowing they got an A.”

Other families also have been grappling with where to send their high school students in the fall as campus protests continue to play out at schools around the country, even as the final deadline fast approaches.

Mimi Doe – the co-founder and CEO of Top Tier Admissions, whose admission experts help students get into their college of choice – told CNN some students have already reconsidered where to attend, particularly when it comes to enrolling at Columbia University.

Read more about how some teens and parents are reconsidering their enrollment.

Moments after officers with the New York Police Department dropped a tarp over the large window that blocked protesters on the street from seeing the encampment on Fordham University’s campus, protesters began to march.

Some protesters on the sidewalk cursed the officers as they lowered the tarp over the window before the large group began to chant and march away and around campus.

The NYPD has supplied the names of those arrested inside Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall to school authorities.

They will check against their records to determine how many of those inside the building were students and how many were not, according to two law enforcement sources.

Journalists tasked with covering violent unrest on college campuses across the US have been assaulted, arrested and barred access as police moved in to crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters who set up encampments and barricaded themselves inside buildings.

On some college campuses, access has been restricted to students only, effectively making student journalists the only reliable news media reporting on the protests and clashes.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, reporters for the student-run newspaper The Daily Bruin said they were violently attacked during clashes Tuesday night, including being followed, slapped and sprayed with irritants, the newspaper said. Student Editor Dai-Liu told CNN she was gassed, and other student reporters were assaulted, with one reporter being taken to emergency care.

The newspaper did not state who assaulted the student journalists, but the violence came as counterprotesters, some of whom were supporting Israel, clashed with pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Hundreds of miles away at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, three journalists were detained while covering campus protests, according to a local public radio outlet, including a television news reporter who was arrested while filming the demonstrations.

At Columbia University in New York, journalists said they were barred from covering the unrest Tuesday night as police officers in riot gear breached an academic building where demonstrators were barricaded, resulting in more than 100 arrests.

Tensions simmered Wednesday at the University of Pennsylvania’s pro-Palestinian encampment as campus police removed banners and took a man into custody for spraying an unknown liquid in the protest site, according to CNN affiliate WPVI. 

Video from WPVI shows officers just after noon removing banners from barricades around the encampment earlier in the week. 

Soon after, police took a person into custody who, protesters said, went into the encampment and sprayed an unknown liquid out of what appeared to be a pesticide canister, according to WPVI.

University public safety officials did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment, however campus police officers told The Philadelphia Inquirer the person was not affiliated with UPenn. Officers told the Inquirer they were testing the substance that had been sprayed and asked protesters to stay away from the sprayed areas.

Demands included withdrawing threats to remove the encampment, and reversing disciplinary actions that UPenn announced it began to take against certain protesters this week.

Meanwhile, according to a statement released Tuesday from UPenn’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the university has “violate[d] their own policies in order to repress nonviolent protest against the war in Gaza.” 

The statement alleged that students said “administrators have threatened to clear the encampment on Wednesday.”   

The university did not comment when asked by CNN if they would attempt to clear the encampment Wednesday night.   

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he does not have a breakdown of who among the 280 people arrested during the recent Columbia University protests were outsiders.

It’s, “certainly something we will learn as we proceed,” Bragg said. “My impression in real time was that these cases are going to come to this office and we’re going to do what we always do which is apply the facts to the law.”  

Of the 280 arrests, at least 170 were summonses and the remaining are Desk Appearance Tickets (DATs) or are “cases that are making their way through the system today and this evening,” Bragg said. 

The DA said he intends to look at each case and make decisions based on facts and the law.

Remember: New York City Mayor Eric Adams claimed Wednesday there were people on the Columbia campus who should not have been there.

“There were people who are professionals and we saw evidence of training, we saw a shift in tactics that were being used and when you start using the intelligence that intel was able to supply, we knew it was time to communicate directly with the school and say, ‘You have more than a peaceful protest on your hands,’” Adams said during a news conference.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner added that sifting through the names of individuals arrested to determine whether or not they’re affiliated with the universities will “take time.”

New York Police Department officers in riot gear are gathered outside Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus in New York City at this hour.

Dozens of protesters are on the nearby sidewalk behind barricades chanting, waving Palestinian flags and standing arm in arm.

“Free, free Palestine,” is one of the recurring chants.

The House has passed a bill that would more broadly expand the definition of antisemitism. It comes as pro-Palestinian protests have sprung up on college campuses across the country, much in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Supporters of the legislation say it will help combat antisemitism on college campuses, but opponents say it overreaches and threatens to chill free speech.

The vote was 320 -91 with 70 Democrats and 21 Republicans voting against the bill.

The bill would mandate that when the Department of Education enforces federal anti-discrimination laws it uses a definition of antisemitism put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. 

Critics of the bill argue that definition is overly expansive and could lead to censorship issues.

A group of protesters carrying pro-Palestinian signs gathered outside Emory University’s undergraduate admissions building on Wednesday.

A police officer stood inside the door of the building. A small group of protesters gathered inside the building. 

“We came to ask for the University President, Gregory L. Fenves, to come meet with us. He wouldn’t. We left voluntarily on our own accord,” Neeti Patel, president of the Emory graduate student government told CNN.

A group of protesters walked out of the admissions building chanting and clapping after making their demands. 

The event appears non-confrontational thus far.

Protesters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison locked arms during a demonstration at the Library Mall on Wednesday, just hours after law enforcement tore down tents this morning.

At least 34 people were arrested, a majority of whom “were released with no citation issued,” according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department.

Hundreds of people remain around the Library Mall on Wednesday afternoon. Tents appeared to be back up after police left the premises.

Some people were holding signs that read “Free Palestine” as law enforcement personnel looked on from the outskirts of the encampment. Other people stood silently with their eyes closed.

Here’s what the scene looks like:

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday described watching New York police officers clear the Columbia University building that was being occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters as “a beautiful thing to watch.”

“The police came in and in exactly two hours, everything was over. It was a beautiful thing to watch, New York’s finest,” Trump said during a rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin. “You saw them go up in ladders, they’re breaking the windows and getting in and that’s dangerous… They knocked it out and they were incredible.”

Trump said he thought Columbia University’s reputation had been “badly damaged,” criticizing school President Minouche Shafik. 

“The person that heads it up, a woman, she waited so long, she was so weak, she was so afraid, she was so bad,” Trump said.

Shafik addressed the campus community in a letter released Wednesday after police had cleared the school grounds of protests, noting that the “drastic escalation” of months-long protests “pushed the University to the brink.”

Negotiations with student protesters at Portland State University who occupied a campus library fell through early Wednesday, but about 50 people left the building on their own, the university’s president said.

Between 50 and 75 protesters broke into the Branford Price Millar Library on Monday, Portland Police Chief Bob Day previously told CNN. 

Negotiators for the students occupying the building indicated they would sign an agreement to leave the building by 1:30 a.m. local time, president Ann Cudd said. She said she guaranteed the students would not be expelled or suspended and would not face criminal charges — in exchange, the students agreed to not violate codes of conduct. The president said she also agreed to meet with student leaders on May 17 to continue talks.

“I feverishly wish that the students in the library had signed on to our agreement, but, after their negotiators told us they had a deal, they apparently chose not to sign,” Cudd said. It doesn’t appear that there are many students left inside the building Wednesday, CNN observed.  

Cudd said it is her understanding that some people inside the library are not students. Graffiti on the library building reads “Free Gaza” and “To Gaza with love.”

“Many of us have seen the vandalism to our library and while the cost of property damage cannot compare to the cost of human lives, this destructive protest is weighing heavy on our campus community who collectively pay for our facilities and expect and deserve to use them in a setting that is welcoming to all students,” the president said.

In a photo shared with CNN by Tyler Katzenberger from the college paper The Daily Cardinal, Samer Alatout, an associate professor of community and environmental sociology, is seen being held to the ground by University of Wisconsin-Madison police officers. 

In an interview with CNN affiliate WMTV, Alatout said police came to the on-campus pro-Palestinian demonstration with riot gear and began breaking up the protest. He added that protests held for the past two days had been “really beautiful, peaceful,” with students from different religious and ethnic backgrounds protesting together.

Alatout noted there were several university faculty and staff members present as well. 

The University of Wisconsin-Madison would not confirm to CNN whether Alatout had been among those arrested earlier Wednesday. According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department, a total of 34 people were arrested, a majority of whom “were released with no citation issued.” 

“Today it seems the administration has decided to give the green light for the police force to go in and break up the protest,” said Alatout, adding that the police were charging “violently” at the demonstrators.

“I think it is racially motivated,” Alatout told WMTV. “I’m the only Palestinian-American professor who is advising, for example, a student group here and who has been involved with the staff and faculty. Everyone in the administration knows me.” 

Alatout said that police officers hit him several times with their shields and “popped” him on his nose and forehead. They also pulled him to the ground several times, he said. 

CNN has reached out to university police for more details, including whether Alatout was among the people arrested.

“I cannot leave the students alone, period. That’s my first and foremost obligation,” Alatout said.

As protests and attempts to quell them spread from New York to Los Angeles and many states in between, President Joe Biden finds himself caught in a series of political and diplomatic crosscurrents without an easy solution.

He is opposed to lawlessness and the takeover of campus buildings and has strongly condemned instances of antisemitism. But he is also mindful of students’ right to protest, even when the anger is directed at his policies toward Israel.

At the same time, he is navigating a highly sensitive moment in the Gaza war, as officials pursue a fresh proposal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. The plan, if agreed to, would result in a temporary pause in the fighting — an outcome some Biden advisers hope could lower the temperature at home. 

For the president, the dueling domestic and foreign policy challenges have imposed a unique burden six months before the election. It’s a rare moment that puts the demand for strong presidential leadership at odds with empathy, a trademark of his public persona.

The Biden campaign is closely watching the protests unfold, particularly those in battleground states, and advisers are keenly aware of the domestic political consequences of the administration’s policy toward Israel but remain hopeful the crisis in the region will ease by the fall.

“If politics was driving this, the president obviously would have changed course months ago,” a senior Democratic adviser told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic inside the campaign. “But there is not a simple political solution to this. It’s driven by complex policy decisions without easy answers.”

Read more about the dilemma facing the Biden administration

Shiraz University in Iran says it will offer scholarships to students from universities in the United States and Europe who have been expelled during the ongoing student protests connected to the crisis in the Middle East.  

“Students and even professors who have been expelled or threatened with expulsion can continue their studies in Shiraz University and I think that other universities in Shiraz and Fars province are prepared to do the same too,” Shiraz University President Mohammad Moreno said.

Shiraz is a major city in Southern Iran and the capital of Fars province.  

Moreno made the comments during a gathering of students and professors from several Shiraz universities in support of US and European pro-Palestinian protesters.  

The Dean of Columbia University Journalism School said in a memo to students that discussions are ongoing about what will happen with graduation, the ongoing NYPD presence on campus and the university’s next steps in light of Tuesday night’s events.

“I anticipate learning more about those things later today,” Jelani Cobb said the memo.

He praised the way student journalists covered the events as New York Police Department officers raided campus, confirming that at least some of them were forced off campus by police.

“Last night’s events demanded the most from Columbia Journalism School. But we saw in real time how reporters’ dedication to the truth helps all of us understand what is at stake during a time of crisis,” Cobb said.

Cobb said about 70 students and faculty advisors were able to set up a newsroom at the school’s Brown Institute to cover what happened.

“By 9:30 p.m., NYPD entered campus, Hamilton Hall, and raided the encampment. During this time, they restricted the movement of CJS students. Some of our reporters were forced off campus, while others were able to return to Brown and edit their work,” Cobb said in a breakdown of how the evening unfolded.

 Journalist Corinne Catibayan contributed to this report.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned violence that occurred at The University of California, Los Angeles, overnight.

“The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus,” Newsom said in a statement posted on social media on Wednesday. “Those who engage in illegal behavior must be held accountable for their actions - including through criminal prosecution, suspension, or expulsion.”

In a separate statement from his office, the governor also said, “the limited and delayed campus law enforcement response at UCLA last night was unacceptable — and it demands answers.” He said his office “immediately deployed” California Highway Patrol to the campus once it was clear state assistance was needed to support the local response.

“The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services has been coordinating law enforcement mutual aid requests statewide, including responding for assistance at UCLA throughout the night and early morning,” his office said. “The state has established a robust Law Enforcement Mutual Aid System to provide law enforcement assistance to college campuses when requested during incidents beyond the capacity of local and campus police. We stand ready to provide additional mutual aid to local law enforcement and campuses when requested.”

CNN has reached out to UCLA for details on the university’s police response to the clashes. It is unclear at this time how many people were arrested as a result of the violence, if any.

The White House on Wednesday sought to answer questions about President Joe Biden’s relative silence about campus protests by pointing to his condemnation of antisemitism. 

“No president has spoken more forcefully about combating antisemitism than this president,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday when asked why the country hasn’t heard directly from Biden about the protests.

“It is important that students and communities feel safe here and at the same time, we are going to be really forceful here and continue to underscore how antisemitism is hateful speech,” she said.

She said Biden had been “kept regularly updated on what’s happening” and he and his team are monitoring the situation. She also repeated White House condemnations of forcible takeovers of campus buildings, saying such tactics were “not peaceful.”

Asked to clarify whether the White House viewed antisemitism as synonymous with the pro-Palestinian protests as a whole, Jean-Pierre said, “No,” but did not offer a clear distinction. 

“No – I was very clear. There is a small number of students who are causing the disruption. And I’ve been very clear about that. And we have to make sure that we create a safe environment – a safe environment is created for students to learn, for students to be able to go to graduation,” she said. 

Jean-Pierre reiterated a “small percentage” of disruptive students are taking away from other students’ experience. She said the White House would “continue to underscore that antisemitism should be called out. It is hate speech. And that should not be allowed — not on college campuses, not in communities, not in the political discourse.”

Jean-Pierre was also pressed on critics in the Republican Party, including former President Donald Trump, who have compared the unrest in recent days to the 2017 White nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

“I would say to those critics, no, he’s not doing a both sides scenario here,” she said.

Biden has said that the events of August 2017 prompted him to run for president in 2020, pointing to rhetoric from Trump that there were bad people on “both sides.” 

“Those things are not the same. They’re just not the same. Fundamentally not the same. And it is in bad faith — it is in bad faith to say that,” she said.

Next week, Biden will deliver the keynote address at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual days of remembrance ceremony on Tuesday, the White House announced earlier.

CNN’s Sam Fossum contributed reporting to this post.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison student, who was on campus when police moved in Wednesday morning, told CNN the campus protest was “peaceful” until the police showed up.

Mia Kurzer said she has been acting as a de-escalator during the protests and is prepared to stay until the group’s “needs are met,” specifically noting transparency and divestment. Demands among protesters vary at each university, but the majority of protests have called for the divestment from companies that support Israel and the war in Gaza.

Kurzer, who is Jewish, said she does not see this protest as antisemitic. “It’s not Jewish versus Muslim, it’s peace versus violence,” she said.

This morning, Kurzer said police officers lined up with shields in front of the encampment and started pushing in as protesters pushed back.

“It was peaceful until they came,” she said of the officers.

 “This is a government-funded university, it’s a public space, we’re not doing anything, we’re not blocking the sidewalks, we’re no harassing anyone, we’re not doing anything wrong.” she said. “There’s no violence on our side, there’s no ill will on our side.”

The encampment has re-emerged following the police interaction this morning. Kurzer said most of the tents up now were put up after police cleared the area.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counterprotesters, some who were pro-Israel, clashed at UCLA overnight after campus officials declared an encampment illegal.  

In video circulating on social media, violent clashes between the groups could be seen at the barricades separating them.  

At one point, the group approaching the barricades began chanting “USA!” although it was not immediately clear what cause they were supporting. One of the few unmasked protesters could heard yelling across the barricade, “You gonna block Jewish kids? Let’s see. We’re fighting back, b—-!”

In one video circulating online a counterprotester is seen wearing a white mask and a black sweatshirt reading “Free our hostages”

According to the Daily Bruin, who had reporters on the ground, “Fireworks, tear gas and fights broke out just after 10:50 p.m. Tuesday night and continued early Wednesday morning as around 100 pro-Israel counterprotesters attempted to seize the barricade around and storm the ongoing Palestine solidarity encampment in Dickson.”

Though there have been counterprotesters on campus since the encampment began, additional counterprotesters arrived on campus around 10:30 p.m. PT, Daily Bruin student editor Anna Dai-Liu said in an interview with CNN International. Around 11 p.m., counterprotesters decided to storm the encampment, she said. Dai-Liu told CNN she’s unsure what triggered counterprotesters to storm the encampment.

CNN has not been able independently confirm which group or groups the counterprotesters may have been associated with.  

According to LA Times reporter, Teresa Watanabe, in a post on X, “Pro-Israel counterprotesters started tearing down encampment barriers and screamed “Second nakba!” referring to the mass displacement & dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.”

Videos and images posted on the newspaper’s website and social media accounts show counterprotesters removing the barricades and wooden boards that surrounded the encampment at UCLA.

In another video the student newspaper published, fireworks were released towards the encampment.

The Daily Bruin’s reporters were also violently attacked during the clashes, including being followed, slapped and sprayed with irritants, the newspaper said. Student Editor Dai-Liu told CNN that she was gassed, and other student reporters were assaulted, with one reporter being taken to emergency care.

According to the Daily Bruin, LAPD did not arrive on the scene until slightly after 1 a.m., “once Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass sent them in for assistance at [Chancellor] Block’s request.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass posted early Wednesday that the Los Angeles Police Department “has arrived” to the hours-long clash among protesters at the University of California in L.A.

Children in displacement camps across northern and central Gaza on Wednesday expressed their gratitude to pro-Palestinian students at college campuses across the US who have been protesting the war.

Video shot for CNN at a camp in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, shows several children holding up banners with names of American universities where pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been held in recent days, saying “thanks for your solidarity!”

Some had messages that read: “Your voices pierce the wall of silence and reach the victims in Gaza” and “thanks to the brave students in American universities, thank you for standing with Gaza.”

A mother whose children were holding banners behind her, Nadia Al-Dibs, told CNN she is grateful to the “brave students” for their solidarity.

Aoun Khattab, a man displaced in Deir al-Balah called on, “Arab and European universities to follow suit … to call and plead for an end to this war and for a permanent ceasefire.”

At a separate event in Deir al-Balah in front of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital, doctors, nurses, and medical staff, also expressed their gratitude to those protesting the war in Gaza.

They held signs with messages such as “Thank you to the students who support our cause,” “Thank you for your solidarity,” “United against genocide,” “The killing of children must stop,” “Keep on fighting for justice,” and other signs with universities’ names.

Dr. Saad Abu Sharban told CNN that he came out to thank the pro-Palestinian protesters in US. “When we saw our students and students around the world do these things, we were over the moon, because we believe that around the world there are human beings who know what is happening here in Gaza Strip right now,” he said.

Similar demonstrations of thanks were seen in video from a displacement camp in Jabalya in northern Gaza on Wednesday. Children were seen carrying Palestinian flags and holding up banners in Arabic that read: “our colleagues at Columbia university, we thank you for standing with us to stop the crimes of Israel’s occupation” and “the Israeli occupation has destroyed our lives, stop the war so we can resume our education.”

Another banner listed several American universities, including one in Paris, saying “continue applying pressure to stop the war on Gaza.” Other banners thanked countries in the Arab world for their “solidarity with Gaza.”

Protests at times turned violent between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters at various campuses across the US overnight.

Approximately 300 people were arrested by the New York Police Department on the Columbia University and City College campuses. New York Mayor Eric Adams said the entry at Hamilton Hall in Columbia was led by people “who are not affiliated with the university.” Those arrested are facing charges from trespassing to criminal mischief.

Columbia is holding final exams but going fully remote for any exams on the university’s main campus, according to a letter sent to students.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, the school’s student newspaper published an editorial on Wednesday morning accusing the school of failing to protect students as violence escalated on the campus. An editor for the Daily Bruin told CNN she has heard reports of pipes, Tasers and pepper spray being used during the confrontation.

Classes have been canceled Wednesday at UCLA following the violence.

Here’s what has been happening at other campuses across the US:

Here are some other headlines you should know about:

Benjamin Kersten, a Jewish graduate student at UCLA and a pro-Palestinian protester, said he is “very proud of the students” on campus who have engaged in the “student-led activist effort that is remaining principled and clear-eyed about the stakes” of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Kersten called for divestment of UCLA funds from “weapons manufacturing” and “companies that are complicit in Israeli genocide, occupation and apartheid.”

“We need binding policies toward more just and democratic investment principles on the part of university,” he said Wednesday.

Nearly all pro-Palestinian protests rocking college campuses across the US have called for universities to divest from Israel in some form.

Kersten also expressed confidence about the outcome of these campus protests.

“Student pressure on universities to divest from conditions of apartheid has worked in the past and it will work again with sustained pressure,” he said.

Kersten added that the risks students take to participate in these protests “are very little compared to what Palestinians face in Gaza.”

Columbia is holding final exams but going fully remote for any exams on the university’s main campus, according to a letter sent to students.

The Morningside Heights campus, where the New York Police Department have cleared protestors and access, is still currently restricted to only students who live in dorms on the campus. 

Final exams at the Medical Center and Manhattanville campus are proceeding as scheduled.

For undergraduate programs, faculty are being encouraged to consider different exam options, like making final exams optional, adjusting grading policies, or outright canceling final exams.  

More scheduling updates: The final exam period begins this Friday. Any undergraduate exams scheduled for Friday will automatically be scheduled for next Friday, May 10. Final papers or projects due this week are to be reassigned to later due dates after Monday, May 6.

Columbia also said deadlines for the submission of grades for graduating students has been moved from May 10 to May 13. 

These scheduling changes do not apply to some graduate programs.

As pro-Palestinian protests have erupted on college campuses nationwide, protesters — including students and faculty — continue to be arrested since the first demonstrators were detained at Columbia University nearly two weeks ago.

More than 400 protesters were arrested on Tuesday, according to a CNN review of university and law enforcement statements. Of those, police said around 300 people were arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York.

More widely, more than 1,500 people have been arrested on college and university campuses since April 18 as schools prepare for spring commencement ceremonies, according to CNN’s review.

Here’s a look at where those arrests happened:

After law enforcement arrested protesters and removed multiple tents out of an encampment on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Wednesday morning, tents are back up again, as police left the premises.

About 34 people were arrested Wednesday morning for resisting police action to remove tents and interfering with operations, according to the university. A majority of those arrested were released with no citation, while four were taken to the Dane County Jail for battery and attempting to disarm a police officer, resisting arrest and attempted escape. 

Four police officers were injured — three Dane County deputies were hurt in the physical resistance and a state trooper was struck in the head with a skateboard by a protester.

Video from CNN affiliate WMTV showed Dane County Sheriff’s deputies and Wisconsin State Patrol troopers with riot control shields pushing forward into a chanting crowd.

Many protesters were pushing back with their arms locked together, as seen in the video. Some officers in Madison Police Department uniforms dismantled tents that were set up on the ground, while others used batons to push protesters back.

An earlier statement from the university’s Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, who described the encampment an “illegal activity,” said that “as long as protest abides by campus and state rules and policies, members of my leadership team stand ready to continue to listen to the concerns of the members of our community involved in this week’s protest.”

But now, the tents are back up.

According to the university, the encampment at the Madison campus violates school policy and a state law that was enacted by the legislature limiting certain types of activities on campus.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Fordham have set up what appears to be a small encampment at the university’s Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Wednesday. 

More than 50 demonstrators were at Fordham on Wednesday protesting outside of an encampment set up inside the university’s Lowenstein building. New York City Police officers have erected a barrier and have surrounded the perimeter where demonstrators have set up on the sidewalk and on campus. 

The group chanted “free free Palestine,” with at least one demonstrator holding a sign reading “anti-Israel is not antisemitism” calling for a ceasefire and demanding university divestment.

Fordham officials sent a safety alert to students Wednesday warning them: “A demonstration is underway on the Lincoln Center campus at the Lowenstein Center.”

They also announced the closure of the Lowenstein Center entrance, saying that students, faculty, and staff must present their Fordham ID to enter campus.

Nadia L. Abu El-Haj, a professor of anthropology at Columbia University, slammed the school’s leadership for not allowing faculty to assist in deescalation before bringing police into the campus.

“I just want to talk about the process and what has gone on the last two weeks. To really kind of clear the record from what the administration has been saying,” the professor said speaking at a news conference on Wednesday.

Abu El-Haj said that Columbia University President Minouche Shafik threw students and faculty under the bus during her congressional testimony for political theater and has since not cooperated in working with faculty to find a solution to working with student protesters.

The reason students planned the encampment the same day as the congressional testimony of Shafik was because students knew that the president and the board were “going throw them and everything they stood for under the bus and she did.”

Abu El-Haj added that the negotiations between protesters and the university’s administration “was jerking everyone around.”

She noted that a handful of faculty members attempted to get back on campus to help mediate and negotiate the situation Tuesday afternoon. “They strung us along until we knew that they were bringing the police in, she said, “They have been lying all along.”

“They have refused to let faculty members, who have relationships with these students, step in and try and deescalate and mediate for weeks now,” Abu El-Haj said.

Hours after authorizing police to force out a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus on Wednesday, the leader of the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced that “illegal activity has been resolved,” with about 30 protesters cited.

“Now that the illegal activity has been resolved, students and others are free to resume peaceful protest that abides by campus protest guidelines today or at any time in the future,” Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said.

Mnookin said the protesters were cited after failing to heed a warning to remove their tents from Library Mall.  

“Every individual was given the opportunity to move away from the tent area and continue peaceful protest without further police engagement,” said Mnookin.

“A set of individuals, including some faculty and staff, obstructed law enforcement efforts to remove the tents and were cited,” she added.

Mnookin said that several others who resisted police action or “otherwise interfered with the operation” were arrested.

Mnookin said the university is investigating reports of harassment against people based on their identity.

“A small number of blatantly antisemitic actions on the grounds of the encampment have been credibly reported, but we have no evidence that any members of our UW–Madison community engaged in this odious activity,” she said. 

Mnookin said the presence of non-community members, “including, reportedly, several highly aggressive individuals,” is one of the reasons the university chose to act.

On Sunday, the Emory Police Department (EPD) arrested a convicted felon, who had crossed state lines to come to the university’s campus amid protests, according to a release from Emory University.

The man, identified as 35-year-old Derek Zika, from Statesville, North Carolina, was arrested on the Emory Quad on Sunday afternoon while carrying knives and a pepper spray canister, the university said. Additionally, police obtained a search warrant Monday for Zika’s car, where they found an axe, a hatchet and two knives in a bag with survival gear, the release said.

Zika was charged with criminal trespass, obstructing a law enforcement officer, possession of a weapon in a school safety zone and crossing state lines with weapons, intoxicants or drugs. He was transported to the Dekalb County Jail, where he was released on bail, jail records show. Zika does not currently have an attorney listed.

The arrest comes as EPD on Sunday also issued six criminal trespass warnings to protesters “suspected of committing recent acts of vandalism on campus,” the university said. EPD confirmed none of those individuals were affiliated with Emory.

“We understand that this information comes at a sensitive time. It is our responsibility to communicate the facts that impact community safety as they become available,” the university said, noting measures taken by the school to enhance campus safety, including increased officer patrols.

CNN previously reported more than 25 people were arrested during a protest on campus.

The University of Georgia Police Department arrested 16 people during a pro-Palestinian protest on Monday, according to a police report.  

The majority of those arrested were students, with nine students taken into custody and seven people listed as visitors, according to the report. All 16 were charged with criminal trespassing, the report said.

The encampment on UGA campus was in “violation of multiple UGA Police policies,” the report noted. University officials had warned protesters that they were in violation of policy and if they failed to comply, they would be arrested.

The University chief of police gave the group five minutes to disperse, the report says. Soon after the time was up, police moved in to make arrests. The seven individuals not affiliated with the University are banned from campus for two years, according to the report.

The report also says that all officers who had body worn cameras were recording during the incident.  

The University of California Los Angeles canceled classes Wednesday, following a night marred by violence between groups of protesters, the school announced. 

“Due to the distress caused by the violence that took place on Royce Quad late last night and early this morning, all classes are cancelled today. Please avoid the Royce Quad area,” the university said in a social media post. 

Additionally, a statement on UCLA’s website indicates there is a “law enforcement presence stationed throughout campus to help promote safety.”

The university said it would also have staff on campus to support impacted students.

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik addressed the campus community in a letter released Wednesday, after police had cleared the school grounds of protests, noting that the “drastic escalation” of months-long protests “pushed the University to the brink.”

The protests, she wrote, created “a disruptive environment for everyone and raising safety risks to an intolerable level.”

With the support of the University’s Board of Trustees, Shafik said she decided to ask the New York City Police Department to intervene and end the protests, particularly the occupation of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall as well as the encampments.

In a Wednesday news conference, NYPD said about 300 protesters were arrested overnight at Columbia University and City College of New York.

“I know I speak for many members of our community in saying that this turn of events has filled me with deep sadness. I am sorry we reached this point,” Shafik wrote.

Shafik said administrators have been “patient in tolerating unauthorized demonstrations, including the encampment,” adding that after eight days of engaging in negotiations with academic leaders, it ended with no resolution.

Shafik said it will take time to heal, underscoring that she hopes “that we can use the weeks ahead to restore calm, allow students to complete their academic work, and honor their achievements at Commencement.”

The university has asked NYPD to stay on campus to ensure public safety until May 17.

Pro-Palestinian protesters on the University of California, Los Angeles, campus are accusing the school of doing “nothing” to stop an attack on their encampment Tuesday night, according to Vincent Doehr, a spokesperson for the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

Police arrived on the UCLA campus after a violent confrontation broke out between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters. Doehr, who is also a PhD student at UCLA’s Department of Political Science, said the encampment was attacked with “weapons such as pepper spray, mace, boards, bricks, fireworks — not firecrackers, fireworks.”

In an interview with CNN, Doehr described the events of Tuesday night as an attack “that the university did nothing to stop.” He said that as the clashes unfolded, “the police the university had hired, the private security guards, stared and watched as this happened despite us warning the (University of California) repeatedly that this was likely to happen.” 

The university has said medical teams and police were “immediately” called to the scene when the clashes broke out.

“Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end,” Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA strategic communications, said in a statement, according to the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student newspaper.

Doehr said he is unsure how many of the students who were injured during the clashes are faring.

At least 12 people were arrested Wednesday morning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as law enforcement officials moved in to take down tents and disassemble the campus encampment.

Several people resisted arrest, according to an update from the university, noting it is still unclear how many are affiliated with the school.

According to the university, the encampment at the Madison campus violates school policy and a state law that was enacted by the legislature limiting certain types of activities on campus.

Lindsay Dubin, a UW-Madison student, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that one tent remains at the university’s Library Mall and that the protest is still ongoing, as of Wednesday morning. She also said the university is well within their rights to dismantle the encampment.

“Even if you consider these laws unjust, (Martin Luther King Jr.) said civil disobedience requires that the individuals who break the laws willingly accept the consequences of doing so,” Dubin said. “We’re in college now, we’re adults, and there are policies and laws in place to protect students and when you break those laws, you have to accept the consequences. So I believe the university is well within their rights to try to break up the encampment.”

The university said there is no threat to safety and that it will continue to operate normally today, but UWPD remains on the ground to make sure any continuing protests are safe and peaceful.

The New York Police Department estimates the agency may need to deploy about 15 to 20 officers to Columbia University depending on the university’s security needs after Tuesday night’s breakdown of on-campus encampments to secure school grounds, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey told CNN.

NYPD and university administrators will have to figure out what security efforts make the most sense for the university, Maddrey said.

During a Wednesday morning news conference, Maddrey noted that after a full assessment of the campus and conversations with university officials, the NYPD will plan to deploy officers to ensure public safety across the campus up until commencement.

Columbia University asked the NYPD to maintain a presence on campus through at least May 17 — two days after the school’s commencement — “to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished,” according to a letter sent by university President Minouche Shafik to the NYPD.

Columbia University woke up in stillness and was extremely quiet on Wednesday morning — a far cry from the scenes of the night prior when NYPD cleared protesters from the campus.

Overnight, at around 12:40 a.m. ET, crews were observed cleaning up the main lawn and dismantling tents that were pitched by protesters roughly two weeks ago.

Photos on Wednesday morning show the main doors to Hamilton Hall with broken glass panes. The heavy, metal patio furniture — such as picnic tables that were used to block the doors from the outside and the wooden chairs used to block the doors from the inside — are no longer there.

Access to campus continues to be restricted to essential service staff and students who live on campus.

Law enforcement began moving protesters out of an encampment on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Wednesday morning.

Video from CNN affiliate WMTV showed Dane County Sheriff’s deputies and Wisconsin State Patrol troopers with riot control shields pushing forward into a chanting crowd.

Many protesters were seen pushing back with their arms locked together. Some officers in Madison Police Department uniforms dismantled tents that were set up on the ground, while others used batons to push protesters back.

The operation came after campus police gave protesters 15 minutes to remove their tents, according to the student newspaper The Daily Cardinal.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was arrested. CNN reached out to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Madison Police Department for information.

Earlier this morning, a group of protesters facing off against the pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, tried to pull away metal barricades around the perimeter of the encampment, video from the news service OC Hawk showed overnight.

People wearing the uniform of a private security firm attempted to put the barriers back in place. At one point, pepper spray appeared to be deployed from the encampment across the barricade, and some protesters can be seen washing their eyes.

One unidentified man can be heard through a megaphone, yelling at police set up near the scene, “Make some arrests! Shut it down!”

Dueling protesters battled overnight on the campus of UCLA, fighting each other with boards and debris as tensions escalated, CNN reported earlier.  

Video from RMG News recorded late Tuesday night showed a number of people in masks on the perimeter of the encampment barricades, some throwing metal and wood items while others blocked the debris with plywood and umbrellas. Others were seen brandishing a tennis racket and a skateboard. 

Jeffrey Maddrey, NYPD’s chief of department, said the agency did not anticipate the escalation in campus protests on Tuesday and had to quickly put a plan together after law enforcement received a request from Columbia University.

“We had to figure out how we were going to deal with what was going on in the street, which was the first part of the plan, because we had to be able to move, we had to be able to bring the barricade in, we had to make sure we had a clear passage for the buses once we had the arrested individuals on buses,” Maddrey said.

“In this case, we had to breach a very difficult building, a building that we knew doors were fortified with vending machines, couches, metal chairs, and the students and the people who are in the building were pushing against the building and throwing objects” at the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit, Maddrey continued.

Mayor Eric Adams said during Wednesday’s news conference there have been ongoing conversations between the NYPD and all universities in the city “once we picked up from our intelligence that there was a real desire to start taking over buildings and a desire to escalate what was happening already.”

“We spoke with the institutions and told them ‘we’re here when you need us, we’re going to pivot quickly.’ And I think it was clear from the combination of what intel was able to share and the observations that to schools were making, that the decision was made — as a Chief Maddrey stated – that this was a last-minute call,” the mayor continued.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the New York Police Department’s intelligence division obtained sensitive information about outside individuals being inside Columbia University’s campus protests.

“There are people that we have been watching in organizations that are not part of the campus,” Adams said. “There are individuals in organizations that are not students. We see a shift in tactics that are being used — destruction of property, destruction of cameras — and so much so, many of the things we saw, paraphernalia and pamphlets about disruptions, is a series of things that the intelligence division has brought to make a determination that there’s an influence going on right now,” he added.

About 300 protesters were arrested from Columbia University and City College of New York, according to police. At Columbia, officers cleared protesters from encampments and an occupied building. The university has asked NYPD to stay on campus until May 17.

After a series of overnight arrests at Columbia University, the New York Police Department plans to do a full assessment of school grounds, speak to university officials and determine what resources are needed, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said in a Wednesday morning news conference.

“Our resources are there to support the university staff, the public safety on campus, the teachers, the faculty members on campus, just to make sure that the environment is safe, so that’s that’s what our goal is going forward,” Maddrey said.

Maddrey noted that the NYPD will determine how many officers will be deployed to ensure public safety across the campus up until commencement.

Earlier Wednesday, CNN reported that Columbia University asked the NYPD to maintain a presence on campus through at least May 17 — two days after the school’s commencement — “to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished,” according to a letter sent by university President Minouche Shafik to the NYPD.

Of the roughly 300 people who were arrested by New York Police Department officers inside and outside a Columbia University building, most of the arrests were people from City College, John Chell, the NYPD’s Chief of Department, said during a Wednesday news conference with city officials.

There are 282 arrests related to the break-in of Hamilton Hall, including 173 people from City College and 109 people from Columbia University, said Chell.

Chell said officials are still determining the exact number of those arrested who were unaffiliated with both universities.

New York Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban said the police department has responded to more than 2,400 protests across the city since October 7.

“Since the terrorist attack of October 7, the NYPD has responded to more than 2,400 protests and demonstrations across the city,” Caban said speaking at a news conference Wednesday morning.

Of those protests, Caban said about 1,100 were related to the “situation in Israel and Palestine, and at every one we’ve worked to keep protesters safe and protect their first amendment rights.”

“This isn’t easy work but no one does it better than the men and women of the NYPD,” he said.

Some context: Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages in its October 7 attacks. Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, according to its health ministry.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that there were outside individuals on Columbia’s campus that raised concerns for authorities.

“There were individuals on the campus — should not have been there. There were people who are professionals and we saw evidence of training, we saw a shift in tactics that were being used and when you start using the intelligence that intel was able to supply, we knew it was time to communicate directly with the school and say, ‘You have more than a peaceful protest on your hands,’” Adams told reporters on Wednesday during a news conference.

New York Police Department deputy commissioner Rebecca Weiner added that sifting through the names of individuals arrested to determine whether or not they’re affiliated with the universities will “take time.”

“We want to make sure that we’re giving you accurate information,” Weiner said. “But I think the larger point is really important, which is this is not about students expressing ideas. It is about a change in tactics that presents a concern and a normalization and mainstreaming of rhetoric.”

New York officers arrested about 300 people between Columbia University and the City College of New York campuses, New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban said during a Wednesday morning news conference.

Caban said preliminary charges range from trespassing to criminal mischief, as well as burglary.

“At this point, we’ll let the criminal justice system play out,” Caban said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during a Wednesday morning news conference the individuals who broke into the Hamilton Hall building on the Columbia campus included students but were led by individuals “who are not affiliated with the university.”

“They needed, the school needed the NYPD assistance to clear Hamilton Hall and the encampments outside a dual operation on the grounds that took place successfully, clearing the tents, taking back and reclaiming Hamilton Hall,” Adams said.

Adams said police are processing the arrests of roughly 300 people to “distinguish between who were actually students and who were not supposed to be on the ground.”

“These external actors with a history of escalating situations and trying to create chaos, not to peacefully protest, but create chaos,” the mayor said.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said New York City police entered Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.

He said police entered the campus, “to allow Columbia University to remove those who have turned a peaceful protest into a place where antisemitism and anti-Israel attitudes were pervasive,” he said at a news conference Wednesday morning.

He added that approximately 300 people were arrested between Columbia and the City College of New York.

Law enforcement officers on Wednesday morning tore down tents at the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s encampment, removing multiple protesters with hands behind their backs.

The standoff on the school’s Library Mall, where students put up the encampment, comes as campus protests across the country become increasingly confrontational.

According to the university, the encampment at the UW-Madison campus violates school policy and a state law that was enacted by the legislature, limiting certain types of activities on campus.

“Once compliance with campus policy and state law has been achieved and tents have been removed from campus property, we, as campus leaders, stand ready to meet with campus-based organizers to discuss their demands,” a statement from the university released Monday said.

Watch the scene:

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House Speaker Mike Johnson slammed pro-Palestinian protesters on Columbia University’s campus as “common criminals” on Tuesday, reiterating calls for the Ivy League institution’s president to step down. 

“The first responsibility of a university administrator obviously is to protect the safety and security of their students,” the Republican from Louisiana said of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik in an interview on Fox News. “And she was unwilling or able to do it.”

Johnson visited Columbia earlier this month to meet with Jewish students as pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses coast to coast have been met with accusations of antisemitism and led to hundreds of student arrests.

The Republican, standing alongside fellow GOP lawmakers after his April 28 meeting with Shafik, called for her resignation should she be unable to reign in campus demonstrations amid loud boos from the crowd who listened.

“This is wrong – this is not protected free speech at all,” Johnson said of protesters who breached and occupied a campus building. “They are inciting violence.”

Johnson claimed the tensions on Columbia’s campus were “100% preventable,” arguing: “None of this should have happened.” He recalled telling Shafik to “get control of this situation” while meeting with her during his visit, calling on her to resign “if she could not do so.” 

He called on higher education administrators to “step up right now and stop the madness” and for US President Joe Biden to “speak right now with moral clarity.” Johnson slammed the commander in chief as “MIA as usual” and “afraid to speak to the issue.”

The House is expected to vote Wednesday on bipartisan legislation targeting the rise in antisemitism that supporters say will confront vitriol on college campuses. 

The Daily Bruin, the college newspaper at the University of California, Los Angeles, published an editorial on Wednesday morning accusing the school of failing to protect students as violence escalated on the campus. 

In the editorial posted on the newspaper’s website, it says “Daily Bruin reporters on the scene were slapped and indirectly sprayed with irritants. Despite also being students, they were offered no protection. The world is watching. As helicopters fly over Royce Hall, we have a question. Will someone have to die on our campus tonight for you to intervene, Gene Block? The blood would be on your hands.” 

CNN has reached out to UCLA for comment.

University of South Florida (USF) police and supporting law enforcement agencies, dispersed an on-campus protest Tuesday, with ten people taken into custody, according to a release from the university.

On Tuesday morning, roughly 75 to 100 protesters assembled on USF’s campus, the release said. According to the university, as the day progressed, USF police found the protest was “no longer peaceful” when they determined protesters intended to use some of the things they brought on campus “as weapons and to resist university staff members and law enforcement officers.”

After making several attempts to tell participants to end the protest and they needed to disperse, protesters refused to comply and ten individuals were taken into custody, the university said.

Police found that one of those arrested was carrying a concealed firearm, USF noted.

Tulane University has confirmed that protesters have been removed from its campus in a statement released Wednesday.

In the statement, the university said students participating in the “illegal encampment” were given “numerous warnings” before officers from the New Orleans Police Department and Louisiana State Police removed them.

The university noted that “the overwhelming majority of the protestors are unaffiliated with our community.”

Police arrested at least 14 protesters — of whom two were Tulane students, the statement said. Earlier this week, six people were arrested, including one student for “trespassing, resisting arrest and battery on an officer,” according to the statement.

Seven students have been suspended, the statement said, adding that students who participated in the protest “have also been referred to the Office of Student Conduct for immediate disciplinary action.”

“We have supported numerous lawful demonstrations throughout this year. However, we remain opposed to trespassing, hate speech, antisemitism and bias against religious or ethnic groups. Harassment, intimidation, violence, and other criminal acts on any of our campuses are not acceptable,” the statement said.

Wednesday is the last day of classes for most students, according to the school, and classes scheduled in three closed buildings should be conducted remotely. Police and security will remain on campus for the remainder of the semester.

An editor for the University of California, Los Angeles student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, told CNN she has heard reports of pipes, Tasers and pepper spray being used in the violent confrontation between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters on Tuesday night.

“The counter protester activity here at UCLA has been sort of constant throughout the days the camp has existed,” Anna Dai-Liu, an editor for UCLA’s newspaper, the Daily Bruin, told CNN.

By 11 pm PT Tuesday night, many more people appeared and began pushing into the barricades, which is when the fireworks went off and tear gas was sprayed, Dai-Liu said.

Some Daily Bruin reporters who were all standing on the counter protester side were gassed and assaulted, but it’s unclear who released the tear gas, she added.

“There’s also been reports of pepper spray and bear spray. As of the moment, it’s very difficult for us to confirm which sides these sprays are coming from, but we’re hearing it’s coming more from the counter protester side,” Dai-Liu said.

There have also been reports of pipes, Tasers used in the violent altercations, she added.

The student newspaper editor said she’s heard from sources on the ground the violence was one-sided but stressed that is “difficult to ascertain among the chaos that is still going on.”

Dai-Liu said it’s still unclear when the camp will be cleared from campus, as they wait for more announcements from UCLA officials.  

“It has been a rather chaotic day of events at UCLA. We’re not quite sure, either, as to how it escalated to this degree. It’s not something we have seen yet on campus, but it is definitely violent in ways previous demonstrations by the counter protesters weren’t,” Dai-Liu said.

Asked about the request from Columbia University to remain on campus until mid-May, a law enforcement official told CNN the department is still determining how long and in what capacity it will stay.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York Police Department Commissioner Edward A. Caban and other officials will hold a news briefing at 9 a.m. “in regard to the Columbia University and City College demonstrations,” according to public schedules.

As a reminder, more than 200 protesters were arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and City College of New York, according to law enforcement sources.

Most of the arrests were made at Columbia, including about two dozen protesters who police say tried to prevent officers from entering the campus, a law enforcement official said.

We’ll bring you the latest updates here as we get them.

New York Police Department officers arrested around 230 people at Columbia University on Tuesday after police in riot gear breached a building on campus in which pro-Palestinian protesters had barricaded themselves, clearing the property, law enforcement sources tell CNN.

There were dozens of additional arrests made several blocks north at the City College of New York, the sources say. 

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata announced it will hold a modified in-person commencement on May 11 after law enforcement regained control of two buildings early Tuesday following a multi-day occupation that prompted a campus lockdown.

More details on the modified commencement schedule will be announced later in the week, the university said.

A shelter in place advisory was implemented by the university this week due to “criminal activity on campus,” it said in a news release.

Early Tuesday, law enforcement officers cleared and secured two halls – Siemens Hall and Nelson Hall East – and arrested 31 people, the university said.

Cal Poly officials lifted the shelter in place order Tuesday afternoon but continued the “hard closure of campus” until May 10.

“Access to campus is restricted, and individuals are not permitted to enter or be on campus without prior authorization. Supervisors will contact those employees who are authorized to be on campus,” the university said.

Protesters faced off overnight on the campus of The University of California, Los Angeles, fighting each other with boards and debris as tensions escalated.

Video from RMG News recorded late Tuesday night showed a number of people in masks on the perimeter of the encampment barricades, some throwing metal and wood items while others blocked the debris with plywood and umbrellas. Others were seen brandishing a tennis racket and a skateboard.

At one point, the group approaching the barricades began chanting “USA!” although it was not immediately clear what cause they were supporting. One of the few unmasked protesters could heard yelling across the barricade, “You gonna block Jewish kids? Let’s see. We’re fighting back, b—-!”

Some protesters engaged in nuisance efforts, including tossing fireworks into the crowd, playing loud music and aiming laser pointers at people. A handful of brief physical skirmishes broke out between protesters.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to the scene early Wednesday morning, providing support to the UCLA Police Department.

Aerial footage from CNN affiliate KABC showed a line of police along the street in front of Dickson Court, preventing additional people from entering the scene of the clashes.

Some classes scheduled on Wednesday at Tulane University in New Orleans will be conducted remotely as “the unlawful demonstration continues” on campus, according to a statement from university officials.

“This encampment is on the edge of campus and heavily patrolled by police,” said a statement from the school.

The university said a “manned police barricade separates this area from the rest of the university.”

“Six arrests have been made and seven suspensions, with another one pending, have been issued to students who have participated in this unlawful demonstration,” Tulane President Michael A. Fitts said in a statement.

Of the six people that have been arrested, one was a student, according to Tulane. 

Video from CNN affiliate WDSU shows officers, many in riot gear, standing in front of protesters who were chanting and banging drums.

“We are also actively looking into reports of university employees participating in the demonstration,” Fitts said.

University officials warned employees who “participate in the unlawful protest will be subject to disciplinary referral and action by Tulane University, up to and including termination of employment.”

CNN has reached out to Tulane and the New Orleans Police Department for comment.

University of Arizona Police deployed “chemical irritant munitions” and urged residents to avoid the area as protests continue on campus, according to posts on X by the university’s police department (UAPD).

Overnight, UAPD responded “to an unlawful assembly,” the posts said.

Police asked protesters on campus to “follow orders of police and disperse immediately” before deploying the irritant, according to the posts.

“Continue to avoid area, police action being taken,” UAPD urged. 

CNN has reached out to university officials and police for more information. 

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More than 100 people were arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York on Tuesday night, according to a law enforcement official, as protests against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza intensified across college campuses nationwide. 

Police in riot gear entered Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall and used flash bangs when breaching the building, in which pro-Palestinian protesters had barricaded themselves. Less than two hours after officers entered the school’s campus in Morningside Heights, Columbia University’s property was cleared. 

Columbia has asked the NYPD to remain on campus until May 17, two days after its graduation ceremony, but protesters remain defiant.

Columbia has been the epicenter, but protests have been roiling universities nationwide. 

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In Los Angeles, police have arrived on campus at UCLA, mayor Karen Bass said early on Wednesday. Before the deployment, pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters were clashing at UCLA, according to multiple reports.

“The violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable,” the mayor said in a post on X.

Here are the latest developments on other campuses

The Los Angeles Police Department “has arrived on campus” at UCLA, mayor Karen Bass said early on Wednesday.

“The violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable,” the mayor said in a post on X.

Before the deployment, pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters were clashing at UCLA, according to multiple reports.

Video from CNN affiliate KABC shows fireworks, objects being thrown, and physical violence among demonstrators. 

LAPD also said Wednesday morning they were responding to assist the UCLA Police Department in a post on X. 

“At the request of UCLA, due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus, the LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD, and other law enforcement agencies, to restore order and maintain public safety,” LAPD said. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said they were closely monitoring the situation at UCLA.

“Law enforcement leaders are in contact this evening and resources are being mobilized,” Newsom’s office said.

Tensions on US college campuses have risen since Hamas’ October 7 attack, when militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, according to its health ministry.

Reports of antisemitic acts have surged across America and particularly on college campuses since October 7. Islamophobia has run rampant, too. The recent surge in protests have inflamed those tensions, forcing leadership to decide when free speech on campus crosses a line and becomes threatening.

But the protests particularly ramped up in mid-April at Columbia University, when the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, testified before a House committee about the school’s response to charges of campus antisemitism. A pro-Palestinian protest kicked off on campus at the same time.

Following her testimony, Shafik requested in a letter released by the university that the New York City Police Department remove people who were encamped on the South Lawn of the campus who were “in violation of the University’s rules and policies” and trespassing. More than 100 people were arrested, according to law enforcement.

The encampments were organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a student-led coalition of more than 100 organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, to protest what they describe as the university’s “continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine,” according to its news release.

Pro-Palestinian encampments have since started at campuses across the US, including at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Emerson College, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley. 

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A violent confrontation has broken out between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), multiple news outlets report.  

The clash came hours after UCLA Chancellor Gene Block called a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus “unlawful” on Tuesday night.

Block said the school had increased security and that students who didn’t leave the encampment would face disciplinary action.

The encampment “is unlawful and violates university policy,” Block said in a statement. 

The Daily Bruin had reported a standoff between protesters and counter-protesters, and fireworks being launched into the encampment. 

Video from CNN affiliate KABC shows fireworks, objects being thrown, and physical violence among demonstrators. 

Zach Seidl, spokesperson for the L.A. Mayor’s office, said in a post on X that the “mayor has spoken to Chancellor Block and Chief Choi. LAPD is responding immediately to Chancellor Block’s request for support on campus.” 

It’s unclear whether anyone has been seriously injured. 

CNN has reached out to UCLA, UCLA Police and LAPD for comment.  

Dramatic campus protests are injecting an inflammatory new element into an election year that is already threatening to stretch national unity to a breaking point.

Tensions spiked late Tuesday following an operation by New York Police Department surge teams to reclaim the Columbia University campus from pro-Palestinian demonstrators and followed scuffles, arrests and canceled classes on at least 25 campuses in 21 states.

The protests were triggered by the terrible civilian toll of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, but they’re now exposing the country’s ideological schisms and new political currents.

The protests are a new test for President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection, with the Gaza war tearing deep rifts in his fragile electoral coalition.

Any president torn between implementing what he thinks is in the US national interest – in this case, defending Israel – and his own political imperatives is in a perilous spot, let alone one who is six months from asking voters for a second term.

And if protests spread and Biden looks like he’s losing control of the country, the political consequences could be ruinous.

Read the full analysis.

Nearly all pro-Palestinian protests rocking college campuses across the US have called for universities to divest from Israel in some form.

What would divestment look like?

Divestment is the opposite of investment.

Many universities have an endowment, which is donated funds generally invested in stocks, bonds and other financial instruments to help the university earn money.

At Columbia, a group of students wants the college to divest its $13.6 billion endowment from any company linked to Israel, including Microsoft and Amazon.

Protesters at other schools, such as Cornell and Yale, want their universities to stop investing in weapons manufacturers.

What are university officials saying?

On Monday, Columbia’s administration reiterated that it would not divest from Israel. Last week, the University of California also said divestment wouldn’t happen.

But some colleges are willing to talk with protesters.

Christina Paxson, president of Brown University, sent a letter to demonstrators saying she would agree to hear a divestment proposal if the school’s encampment were disbanded, according to the student-run newspaper, the Brown Daily Herald.

They’ve been here before.

Columbia students protesting South Africa’s apartheid racial segregation policy in the 1980s called on the school to sever its financial ties with companies doing business in the country.

Columbia eventually voted to sell most of its stock in South Africa-connected companies. Other colleges followed suit.

Read more here.

Since April 18, more than 1,000 people have been arrested on college and university campuses from coast to coast as schools prepare for spring commencement ceremonies, according to a CNN review of university and law enforcement statements.

Protesters have been arrested on more than 25 campuses across at least 21 states. However, many other schools have experienced protests without arrests.

CNN is monitoring campus protests and will continue to update this map with any new arrests.

Video taken over the weekend at Arizona State University shows a campus police officer removing a hijab from a protester’s head during her arrest.

The blurred video, obtained by Mass Liberation AZ and provided to CNN by attorney Zayed Al-Sayyed, who represents the women, shows several ASU Police Department officers surrounding a woman whose hands are held behind her back as one of the officers removes her hijab.

People nearby can be heard yelling, “You’re violating her privacy,” and “Give it back.”

The officers then pull the woman’s sweatshirt hood over her head and a bystander yells, “So she can wear a hood but not her hijab?” At one point one of the officers blocks the woman from the view of those taking the video, as a person yells, “let her go!”

A lawyer representing her and three other women who said it also happened to them is demanding accountability.

Al-Sayyed, who said the arrests took place early Saturday, did not identify the women but indicated that three of them are students at the university and all four are Phoenix-area residents. They are facing criminal trespass charges.

Upon being taken into custody, Al-Sayyed said, the women explained the significance of a hijab and “begged” to keep their hijabs, but he said they were told that their hijabs had to be removed for safety reasons.

“They never expected that an officer … who’s sworn to protect and serve is going to violate their most basic protected right under the United States Constitution, which is the right to practice their religion. So they’re hurt,” Al-Sayyed said.

After being detained and bused to jail, the women were not given their hijabs back, Al-Sayyed said.

Around 15 hours later, when he was finally given access to his clients, Al-Sayyed said he was able to bring them new hijabs.

The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ), condemned the university police for the recorded incident and others like it and called for a full investigation.

“This act represents a blatant infringement upon the religious liberties of peaceful protesters. It is profoundly distressing for the affected women, and ASU Police must conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” Azza Abuseif, executive director of CAIR-AZ, said in an email to CNN.

In a statement to CNN, the university said, “This matter is under review.” CNN has reached out to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for comment.

Over 100 protesters were arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and City College of New York, according to a law enforcement official.

Most of the arrests were made at Columbia, including about two dozen protesters who police say tried to prevent officers from entering the campus, the official said.

Tactical teams at Columbia first set up a perimeter around the campus to hold back protesters and prevent further arrests, according to the official. Officers then entered the campus through multiple entry points.

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NYPD officers used flash-bang grenades Tuesday night to breach Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, which protesters had barricaded themselves inside, the police department told CNN.

The building’s doors had been barricaded with chairs, tables and vending machines, and windows had been covered with newspaper, the NYPD said.

When a flash-bang grenade is deployed, it emits a bright flash and a very loud bang, often used to shock and disorient. 

Video posted by NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry shows officers searching a bookshelf-lined office after busting the door’s lock with a hammer.

Another video shows officers packing a stairwell and passing chairs to one another.

At least 50 officers had earlier used an elevated ramp to climb into the building through a window. 

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A lead student negotiator for protesters at Columbia University has told CNN that protests will continue on the campus despite the school’s request for a prolonged police presence.

The university has asked NYPD to maintain its presence on campus until May 17.

“I’m very confident that students will continue this movement even after all this brutality against them,” negotiator Mahmoud Khalil said, adding that students still have the right to protest despite increased security.

Since negotiations between student protesters and the Columbia University administration began two weeks ago, the university has not viewed them as an anti-war movement, he said. 

“Instead, they dealt with it as an internal student discipline matter. They negotiated with us about bringing food and blankets to the encampment. They refused to acknowledge that this actually is more than that, this is a nationwide movement.

“This is a movement that asks Columbia to divest its investments from the companies that are fueling the war in Gaza right now,” said Khalil, who is a second-year graduate student at Columbia.

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Tensions escalated on campus when officers on Tuesday night entered Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, which had been occupied by protesters since the early hours of Tuesday, and dozens were seen being arrested.

Khalil said that “the autonomous group decided to take that building when they felt the university is not answering their demands” and was “alienating” them.

Julia Vargas Jones, a CNN journalist and Columbia Journalism School graduate student, said the university’s request for an on-campus police presence through May 17 will only “dampen the mood even more” as students and their families prepare for graduation.

NYPD swarmed the university Tuesday night after the university authorized it to go into the campus to clear out a building being occupied by protesters. CNN witnessed dozens of arrests.

“Graduation is May 15. That is my graduation as well. I have family coming from Brazil to come watch me walk across the stage and get my diploma. I hope of course, as everyone does, that this (graduation) can happen,” Jones said.

“But at the same time, is there a climate for celebration, for graduation?” Jones said.

Jones said she’s unsure the climate on campus will be celebratory as graduation nears.

“I spoke to a lot of students on campus today and students were just feeling caught in between. I don’t really see celebration being something we flock to in the coming weeks,” she said. “I’m interested to see who will actually attend graduation.”

Jones, as she reported from inside Columbia’s campus Tuesday night, said she did not witness any violent altercations. After the campus was cleared by NYPD, Jones described the atmosphere as quiet enough to “hear a pin drop.”

Columbia University has asked the NYPD to maintain a presence on campus through at least May 17 — two days after the school’s commencement — “to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished,” according to a letter sent by university President Minouche Shafik to the NYPD.

The letter was sent to NYPD Deputy Commissioner Michael Gerber earlier Tuesday to formally request that police clear a large protester encampment and Hamilton Hall, a university building that has been occupied by students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza. 

“We trust that you will take care and caution when removing any individuals from our campus,” Shafik wrote in her letter.

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Off a balcony at Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall, which had been occupied by pro-Palestinian demonstrators for much of Tuesday, protesters had hung a banner that read “Hind’s Hall.” 

Protesters had symbolically renamed the building to evoke Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was found dead after being trapped in a car with her dead relatives after it came under Israeli fire in Gaza in January. A recording of her call begging first responders to save her was released. 

Hind had been traveling in a car with her uncle, his wife and their four children, fleeing fighting in northern Gaza, when they came under Israeli fire, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

“The child (Hind Rajab) and everyone in the car were found killed by the Israeli army near the Fares petrol station in the Tal Al-Hawa area, southwest of Gaza City, after about two weeks of her unknown fate due to the Israeli military operation in the area,” according to Khader Al Za’anoun, a Palestinian journalist working for CNN who spoke to the child’s grandfather. 

Hind’s cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamadeh, made a desperate call for help to emergency services that the PRCS recorded and shared on social media. Gunshots can be heard during the call.

“They are shooting at us. The tank is right next to me. We’re in the car, the tank is right next to us,” Layan screams, amid intense gunfire in the background. Layan then goes quiet, and the rounds of fire stop.

Alone, terrified and trapped in the car with the bodies of her relatives around her, Hind made another desperate call for help.

A core demand over the past week by the pro-Palestinian student groups at Columbia University has been for the school to withdraw investment funds from what they describe as companies profiting from Israel’s war in Gaza.

Columbia’s endowment is worth $13.6 billion and is managed by a university-owned investment firm.

The request from a coalition of student groups behind the movement includes divesting endowment funds from several weapons manufacturers and tech companies that do business with Israel’s government.

The group has described those companies as profiting “from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine.” Israel denies accusations of genocide.

This is not the first time such demands have been made. 

In 2000, the university established an advisory committee on socially responsible investing, made up of students, faculty and alumni, to provide feedback to the managers of its endowment investments.

Columbia now lists five areas where it refrains from investing: tobacco, private prison operations, thermal coal, Sudan and fossil fuels — all decisions made in the past decade.

Columbia was also the first Ivy League university to divest from South Africa, and various other colleges followed suit.

In 2015, Columbia became the first US university to divest from private prison companies after a student campaign raising concerns about human rights abuses.

A fossil fuel divestment proposal was approved by Columbia’s Board of Trustees in early 2021. The policy includes a commitment not to invest in “companies whose primary business is the exploration and production of fossil fuels.” Columbia’s announcement was followed by similar commitments at other Ivy League universities.

Here’s more about student’s pushing for divestment.

Travis County prosecutor Delia Garza on Tuesday called for University of Texas-Austin leadership to initiate a compromise with student protest organizers, as police presence on campus and arrests are “dwindling” law enforcement resources.

Nearly 80 people were arrested on campus Monday and Garza’s office is processing at least 65 criminal trespass cases, she said.

“While we understand the safety concerns of the university, continuing to send protesters to jail on criminal trespass charges — one of the lowest level non-violent crimes our office is presented with – is putting a tremendous strain on our criminal justice resources,” Garza said.

The prosecutor said that her office is working to process the “large volume” of cases that has caused “a delay on normal, everyday processes,” and that magistrates are working to determine eligibility for release. 

“When large numbers of APD officers are sent to assist and round up protesters for criminal trespass charges, that means less officers available for other calls, like domestic violence and assaults,” Garza said.

She added that she is “deeply concerned” by how demonstrations can escalate when people believe they are being prevented from being able to exercise their right to peaceful protest. 

“It is not the role of the criminal justice system to jail people for conduct that has not yet occurred or that might occur, nor is it the role to assist our governor in efforts to suppress non-violent and peaceful demonstrations,” she said. 

For now, Garza said the cases her office have reviewed so far will remain active, as they work to determine the most appropriate course of action.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled classes Tuesday – the last day of classes and non-mandatory operations – the school said in a social media post.

The decision came after police at the university broke up protests.

The demonstrations became physical, with police physically pushing back pro-Palestinian protesters after the group breached barricades surrounding the school’s flagpole and replaced the American flag with a Palestinian one.

Protesters were throwing water bottles at the officers as police and counterprotesters raised the American flag on the pole. Police at UNC deployed a chemical irritant against the crowd of protesters.

Protesters then attempted to lower the American flag again. Other students gathered around the flag to hold it and prevent it from being taken off the pole.

According to the school’s website, Tuesday was meant to be the last day of classes at the university.

Brown University student protesters reached an agreement Tuesday to disband their encampment after the university agreed to hold a vote on divestment from companies that support Israel, according to the protest group.

“This is an unprecedented win,” a Tuesday release from the student group said. “This vote is a major concession that affirms the power of our encampment and the national movement of student encampments for Palestine.”

The Ivy League university agreed to the vote on a divestment resolution, after protesters negotiated with the administration over the last two days, according to the student group.

As part of the agreement, the protesters agreed to end their encampment Tuesday evening, according to the release. 

“Although the encampment will end, organizing to ensure that the Brown administration fulfills our calls to act on divestment will continue until the Corporation vote in October,” the group said in their statement. 

In a statement, Brown President Christina H. Paxson said that students agreed to end the encampment and “refrain from further actions that would violate Brown’s conduct code through the end of the academic year, which includes Commencement and Reunion Weekend.”

“The University agreed that five students will be invited to meet with five members of the Corporation of Brown University in May to present their arguments to divest Brown’s endowment from ‘companies enabling and profiting from the genocide in Gaza,’” according to the statement. The president will ask an advisory committee to give a recommendation by September 30.

The headline of this post has been updated to indicate the university is agreeing to hold a vote on divestment.

All the protesters at Yale University chose to leave the campus encampment, the university said Tuesday, after Yale demanded students must end their actions or face discipline, including suspension for violating university rules and arrest for trespassing. 

“All the protesters chose to leave the encampment, and the university is in the process of clearing tents and other items from the area,” a Tuesday statement from Yale said. “Yale fully supports peaceful protests and freedom of speech; however, claiming control of our shared space is inconsistent with our principles and values.”

According to the university, some protesters remained near the area and on nearby streets Monday morning after leaving the encampment, but no arrests were made.

Columbia University students who were occupying Hamilton Hall face expulsion, the university said Tuesday before police cleared the hall that night.

“We made it very clear (Monday) that the work of the University cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules. Continuing to do so will be met with clear consequences,” university spokesperson Ben Chang said in release. “Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation – vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances – and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday.”

Restoring order and safety was the administration’s top priority, the release said, noting that the disciplinary actions weren’t political.

“This is about responding to the actions of the protesters, not their cause,” Chang said.

The university also said the demonstrations have created disruptions on campus. Many Columbia students are headed into final exam week, which marks the end of Spring 2024 term.

“Disruptions on campus have created a threatening environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty and a noisy distraction that interferes with teaching, learning, and preparing for final exams, and contributes to a hostile environment in violation of Title VI,” the university statement said.