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.

Police officers get into position as pro-Palestinian students and activists demonstrate on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on May 1.

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.

Police arrest several protesters at Dartmouth College on Wednesday night.

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.

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.

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.

Police arrest several protesters at Dartmouth College on Wednesday night.

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.

“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.

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

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

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03:39 • 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.

This aerial view shows police vehicles and a law enforcement mobile command post gathering at the FBI's Los Angeles field office parking lot in Loas Angeles, California.

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.

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

Counter-protesters strike a barricade at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of California, Los Angeles campus early on Wednesday, May 1.

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.

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.

NYPD officers prepare to detain protesters outside the Fordham Lincoln Center campus in New York on Wednesday, May 1.

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. 

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:

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.

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.

People gather against the Israel-Hamas war during a protest set up at the University of Texas at Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, in Richardson, Texas.

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.

Police gather outside of Fordham University Lincoln Center on Wednesday, May 1.

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.

Police arrest several protesters to clear an encampment at the University of Arizona on Wednesday, May 1.

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.

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:

NYPD officers stand by on closed streets surrounding Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30.

New York University students set up a "Liberated Zone" tent encampment in Gould Plaza at NYU Stern School of Business on April 22

A NYPD officer removes a tent set up by pro-Palestinian protesters inside a building of the Fordham University, in New York on Wednesday, May 1.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rebuild a barricade around an encampment on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Wednesday, May 1. Before police were deployed to campus, pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters were clashing at the school, according to multiple reports. 

Hundreds of student protesters remain at the Library Mall Wednesday afternoon, with many holding a silent vigil with arms locked. 

A view of  the barricaded Portland State University Library building in Portland, Oregon, as seen on Tuesday, April 30.

Protesters march to an admissions building at Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, May 1.

A person stands an encampment at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Wednesday, May 1

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.