May 2, 2024 - US college protests

More arrests stemming from the occupation of a library at Portland State University are possible after people ran away from the building as officers were clearing it, Portland State Bureau Sgt. Kevin Allen said. 

The library is still an active scene and authorities are investigating any crimes that were committed, he added. 

Inside the building, officers found what appear to be improvised weapons, hollow bamboo sticks, buckets full of ball bearings, unspecified tools, paint balloons, spray bottles filled with ink with a note that said they were meant to be deployed at officers and cups of paint, Allen detailed. He said a soap or slick substance was on at least one floor of the building making it difficult for the officers to walk. 

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who also oversees the Portland Police Bureau, said those arrested will be prosecuted. 

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt echoed that destructive behavior will not be tolerated. 

“Things like spraying graffiti, breaking windows and setting fires, I condemn these criminal acts,” Schmidtsaid, adding that charging decisions will be made once evidence is collected and reviewed.  

University President Ann Cudd said Thursday that the campus is closed and the buildings were locked down. 

She reiterated that she tried to negotiate with students who remained in the library, and let them know that staying inside was considered trespassing. 

She is still open to meeting with students and hearing their concerns, but those arrested will face consequences.  

When President Joe Biden returned to the White House on Wednesday evening from a campaign event at the nearby Mayflower Hotel, he requested his advisers assemble a basic outline of remarks on the protests — if he were to deliver them.

Three White House officials say Biden and his closest aides went back and forth to incorporate Biden’s edits, with a final decision and final draft produced early Thursday morning. 

Senior advisers have for weeks been tracking the developments in the protests through official channels with local governments and law enforcement. Behind the scenes, younger West Wing staffers – many recent graduates themselves or with contemporaries pursuing post-graduate degrees – also sought to raise awareness from firsthand accounts they were receiving from friends on campuses, with alerts that grew in intensity in recent days. 

In particular, the escalation at Columbia and UCLA – and the increasing involvement of law enforcement on campuses nationwide – piqued the President’s desire to speak in public, beyond written statements and the commentary offered by spokespeople on his behalf.

A total of 12 people were arrested Thursday as police worked to clear a library at Portland State University, Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Kevin Allen said during a news conference. 

Of the 12, only four are students at the university, the rest do not appear to be affiliated with the school, the sergeant said. 

Officers entered the building around 6 a.m. and “slowly, carefully, deliberately” worked their way from the top floor to the bottom, clearing the library as they went, Allen said. 

Officers encountered barriers that caused them to slow down as they went through the building, and it took a “couple of hours” to clear, he added. 

Breaching the bottom floor proved to be the most difficult, and as officers got through, a group of people ran from the library, Allen said. 

At one point, a custody van was blocked from leaving the scene by a group of protesters, he added. 

There were “some” confrontations and uses of force, and two officers suffered minor injuries, the sergeant said. One officer was sprayed with a fire extinguisher, while another was allegedly hit with a shield. 

The anti-war student protests unfolding across US campuses could be "Biden's Vietnam" moment, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont told CNN, warning that President Joe Biden's stance over Israel's war on Gaza may have alienated young voters.  

During an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Thursday, Sanders drew a parallel between the current protests and those that occurred during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson in the late 1960s when American students protested against the Vietnam War.  

"In terms of his campaign, I am thinking back and other people are making this reference that this may be Biden's Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson, in many respects, was a very, very good president... He chose not to run in 68 because of opposition to his views on Vietnam," Sanders said. 

The Independent senator highlighted the need to remember why students are demonstrating in such huge numbers, saying: "They are out there not because they are pro-Hamas. They are out there because they are outraged by what the Israeli government is now doing in Gaza."  

Sanders said he believes students who are protesting against sustained US aid to a "right wing extremist Netanyahu government" are doing so "for the right reasons."  

The politician told CNN that he hopes from both a "policy point of view and a moral point of view" that President Biden "stops giving a blank check to Netanyahu" and realizes that US support to Israel "has not been helpful."  

After meeting with students representing the protest encampment in Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on Thursday, school leadership informed protest organizers they must remove their tents from the campus' Voorhees Mall by 4:00 p.m. today or face consequences, according to a statement released Thursday afternoon.

The letter noted that the buildings surrounding Voorhees Mall are where hundreds of final exams are set to take place, underscoring that "students are rightly concerned about their ability to take exams in this environment." The school announced early this morning that it was postponing or relocating final exams scheduled today.

According to the university, the protest group’s morning rally disrupted 28 scheduled exams and impacted more than 1,000 students. 

If protesters fail to comply and clear their tents, school officials warned they “will be considered to have trespassed, and we will be left with no other option than, with the assistance of law enforcement, to remove the protesters and their belongings.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Thursday condemned violence and vandalism surrounding protests at UCLA.

“Every student deserves to be safe and live peacefully on their campus. Harassment, vandalism and violence have no place at UCLA or anywhere in our city,” Bass said in a statement. “My office will continue to coordinate closely with local and state law enforcement, area universities and community leaders to keep campuses safe and peaceful.”

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 two weeks ago. Nearly 200 protesters were arrested on May 1, after April 30 saw the largest number of arrests in a day since protests began with at least 418, according to a CNN review of university and law enforcement statements.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested on college and university campuses since April 18 as schools prepare for spring commencement ceremonies, according to CNN’s review. The University of Southern California, where nearly 100 protesters were arrested April 24, canceled its primary commencement event. Protesters have been arrested on more than 40 campuses across at least 25 states. Many other schools have experienced protests without arrests.

Protest demands vary from campus to campus, but a major focus is that universities divest from companies with financial ties to Israel amid its war with Hamas. There have also been counter-protests, resulting in clashes at UCLA.

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

President Joe Biden delivered his most extensive remarks yet about the unrest on college campuses on Thursday.

Meanwhile, on campuses across the country:

At Portland State University, Portland police officers in riot gear were in a standoff with protesters Thursday outside the school's library, as authorities worked to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from the premises. The Portland Police Bureau made at least two arrests early this morning.

At George Washington University, dueling protests — a group of pro-Israel protesters and another of pro-Palestinian protesters — are taking place about four blocks away from each other.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, cleanup begins after police broke down a barricade and arrested over 100 protesters. CNN reported hearing flashbangs on the UCLA campus Thursday morning and said that authorities appeared to fire rubber bullets.

At the University of Florida, the school said it plans on going ahead with commencement and its Chancellor said protests "will not be tolerated."

At the University of New Hampshire, twelve people were arrested Wednesday night during protests.

At the University of Texas at Dallas, 17 people were arrested as police cleared an encampment.

Police said Thursday it had cleared the library at Portland State University where pro-Palestinian protesters had been occupying the campus building since Monday.

“We can now confirm that our clear of the Portland State library is complete,” the Portland Police Bureau said. “We have found caches of tools, what appears to be improvised weapons, ball bearings, paint balloons, spray bottles of ink and DIY armor. None of this was used on police.”

Videos shot after police breached the library, sending protesters running, shows demonstrators attempting to block a police van from driving onto a bridge while shouting, “Let them go.” Ultimately, police were able to push through.

In another video, demonstrators are seen calling for water and pouring it into the eyes of a distraught protester.

The Portland Police Bureau on Thursday also denied using tear gas but said officers were equipped with “standard issue 40mm less-lethal launchers," in a post on social media.