April 29, 2024 - Columbia begins suspending student protesters

Our live coverage of the protests has moved here.

Demonstrators supporting Palestinians in Gaza barricade themselves inside Columbia University's Hamilton Hall in New York City, on April 30.

Dozens of Columbia University students are occupying Hamilton Hall, one of the campus buildings occupied during 1968 student protests, according to a social media post early Tuesday from Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine. 

Overnight, protesters on campus made their way from the West Lawn encampment to Hamilton Hall, one of the main academic buildings for undergraduates.

A large group of protesters rallied in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday, chanting the call-and-response, “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.”

Hours earlier, the university announced it had begun suspending students who refused to leave the encampment before a 2 p.m. Monday deadline set by the administration.

CNN has reached out to Columbia University and the New York Police Department for more information.   

At least six protesters were arrested at Tulane University on Monday after tents were set up on the campus in New Orleans that day, a university public safety official said.

“Today, participants in a protest that was unregistered and unsanctioned by Tulane University stormed university property and erected tents on the edge of the lawn in front of Gibson Hall near the sidewalk,” said Kirk Bouyelas, Tulane’s associate vice president for public safety.

After university police warned protesters not to enter school property, they began arresting people and clearing tents, Bouyelas said. He called it an “ongoing situation.”

The protesters were arrested on suspicion of offenses including trespassing, battery on an officer and resisting arrest, according to Bouyelas.

“We are working with local law enforcement and government officials to resolve the situation. The safety and well-being of the members of the Tulane community is our top priority,” he said. 

Demonstrators set up tables as protection against a possible police intervention as they protest over the Israel-Hamas war at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Monday. 

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee warned protesters who established an encampment on its campus Monday that “camping on campus grounds is unlawful” and violates state code.

“The vast majority of protests on UWM’s campus during the last several months have been peaceful and lawful, and UWM is steadfast in respecting the right to free speech. At the same time, it is critical that we maintain a safe and welcoming environment for our students, employees and visitors,” the school said in a release.

The university also reiterated its calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.

The university said it has received a list of demands from protesters, which includes calls to suspend academic ties with Israeli institutions.

“While UWM does not have any active study abroad programs with universities in Israel, prohibiting faculty from engaging with any institution or country would infringe on their academic freedom. Although we understand the protesters’ desire for the safety and peace of all those in Gaza, stifling academic freedom or free speech would not accomplish that goal,” the university said.

Amid widespread calls from US student protesters for their schools to divest from entities that profit from the war in Gaza, the school also said it “has no investments in weapons manufacturers.”

Many of the concerns from protesters were addressed in meetings between students and administrators, the university said.

“We ask again that people respect each other’s diverse viewpoints as well as the laws so that we can all feel safe and welcome here,” the school concluded in its statement.

Law enforcement responds to a protest at Virginia Commonwealth University on Monday, April 29.

Police in Richmond responded to protesters at Virginia Commonwealth University’s campus Monday.

Video from CNN affiliate WWBT shows people being taken into custody.

Dozens of protesters gathered near the university’s library in an area they’ve called a “liberation zone,” according to WWBT. Video from the affiliate shows officers in riot gear apprehending individuals and throwing one person to the ground while shouting: “Stop resisting. You’re under arrest.”

In a statement to CNN, Virginia Commonwealth University said the gathering “violated several university policies.”

Both students and non-students were arrested and the university is dismantling the encampment, according to Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. She noted a “significant number” of non-students were in the crowd. A Virginia State Police spokesperson said the department responded to the protest to assist campus police.

In a Monday evening advisory on its website, the university initially described the protests as “violent,” but later removed the advisory language from its website and instead described the gathering as a “public assembly.”

A university spokesperson declined to comment when asked about the change in language.

CNN’s Aaron Eggleston contributed to this report

University of Southern California President Carol Folt said she met with student organizers of campus protests Monday, but conceded that no agreement has been reached.

The meeting, which also included a faculty member, lasted about 90 minutes, the president said. Folt said she plans to meet with the group again tomorrow.

“I think we need to continue to have those conversations, and I’m pleased we all agree on that. We’ll go day by day,” she said. 

Some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were taken into custody at UT-Austin on Monday were arrested on suspicion of trespassing, while others are accused of disorderly conduct after refusing to disperse, university officials said in a statement. 

Demonstrators set up an encampment that included a “barricade enclosure of tables secured by metal chains, and strategically placed tools, tents, and rocks,” the statement read. 

 Protesters “escalated” the situation, and in response, officials “took swift action to preserve a safe, conducive learning environment for our 53,000 students as they prepare for final exams,” according to the statement. 

In a statement to CNN Monday, Travis County Attorney Delia Garza said she was concerned the protests on “could escalate and lead to more disruption and violence.” 

“I have begun discussions with the University administration and am hopeful that a reasonable solution can be reached to ensure everyone involved is kept safe and their constitutional rights protected,” Garza said. “We will continue to collaborate with our partners and individually review each case that is presented to our office.”

Nine people were arrested Monday evening at the University of Florida campus protests in Gainesville, Florida, according to Cynthia Roldán Hernández, UF director of public affairs.

CNN has reached out to the Gainesville Police Department for additional information. 

A Texas State trooper stands gurad near pro-Palestinian demomstrators at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on April 29.

Dozens of people were arrested Monday at a protest on the campus of University of Texas at Austin, according to the university’s Defend Palestine Encampment, who also alleged that officers used force to take people into custody.

The encampment was formed on the school’s South Mall Lawn around 12:30 p.m. CT, and around an hour later, officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Austin Police Department and campus police responded wearing riot gear, a news release from organizers said. 

The university is working on compiling information, including the number of people arrested, for a news release later Monday, said Brian Davis, senior manager for issues and crisis communications at the university. 

The Travis County Sheriff’s Office will not have a total number of arrests until Tuesday morning, spokesperson Kristen Dark told CNN. 

CNN has reached out to the Department of Public Safety for comment. 

“We demand that UT divest from the Zionist state of Israel and from all institutions and companies that are enabling the current genocide in Gaza … We demand the resignation of President (Jay) Hartzell for green-lighting the militarized repression of peaceful student protesters on their own campus,” Lenna Nasr, of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said in the news release. 

CNN’s Joe Sutton and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report. 

Cornell University is suspending students after an encampment on campus declined to move to an alternate location, President Martha E. Pollack said in a message Monday. 

Cornell University leaders then offered an alternative location for the encampment, according to Pollack. 

“With an approved permit in hand, the protesters could have remained in the alternative location, per our policies, thereby avoiding disciplinary sanctions,” Pollack’s message said. 

Suspensions followed throughout the weekend as university leaders tried again to give the encampment, an “opportunity to move to the alternate location.” 

“Since last Thursday, we have tried to engage thoughtfully with the participants, and will try to continue to do so. But we need to soon get to a resolution that respects our policies, promotes the public health and safety of the community, and preserves the rights of all to do their work,” Pollack said. 

CNN’s Michelle Watson contributed to this report 

Mahmoud Khalil speaks with CNN on Monday, April 29.

In a conversation with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Columbia student lead negotiator Mahmoud Khalil, discussed what he called an “anti-Palestinian narrative” at the school amid pro-Palestinian protests.

Khalil was also asked what he would say to Jewish students who feel unsafe on campus.

Hundreds of people have been arrested on college and university campuses from coast to coast as schools prepare for spring commencement ceremonies. 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 20 campuses across at least 16 states. Many other schools have experienced protests without arrests.

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

Pro-Palestinian students and activists set up a protest encampment on the campus at the University of California at Irvine on Monday, April 29, in Irvine, California.

Local law enforcement officials have arrived on the University of California Irvine campus after being called to assist campus police, officials said.

Campus officers are joined by city of Irvine police at the pro-Palestinian protest in the school’s physical sciences plaza, according to university spokesman Tom Vasich.

The Orange County Sheriff was asked to send additional personnel to assist, department Sgt. Matthew Parrish told CNN. 

Vasich estimates there are about 100 protesters in the area, including some not affiliated with the university. About 10 tents have been erected in violation of university policy, he said. The sheriff’s department was called in for support only, he added.

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan issued a statement “preemptively condemning” any police action that might violate the First Amendment rights of the protesters.

About a dozen protesters remain outside the main gates of Columbia University on 116th Street and Broadway in New York.

The protesters are no longer chanting but are milling around in the pens outside the gates.

At its peak, CNN witnessed at least 60 protesters gathered outside the gates, chanting and holding signs.

Columbia sophomore, David Lederer, waves a large flag of Israel outside the student protest encampment on the Columbia University campus, on Monday, April 29,in New York.

 A Columbia University student said he flew a large Israeli flag above pro-Palestinian protests on campus Monday to show that Jewish students will not be intimidated by those marching on campus today.

Lederer, who flew the flag about two hours after the 2 p.m. ET deadline set by the administration to clear the encampment, previously told CNN in an interview that he and his brother were harassed and assaulted on campus by pro-Palestinian protesters. 

Pro-Palestinian protesters voted to defy the campus order to vacate and stay in the encampment.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a short rally after marching around the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" in the West Lawn of Columbia University on Monday, April 29, in New York.

Columbia University has begun suspending student protesters who refused to vacate the on-campus encampment by the 2 p.m. ET deadline set by the administration.

These students will not be eligible to complete the semester or graduate and won’t be allowed in university housing and academic buildings, the New York-based university said.

“Once disciplinary action is initiated, adjudication is handled by several different units within the university based on the nature of the offense,” Vice President of Public Affairs Ben Chang said during a briefing Monday evening.  

The two bodies overseeing this disciplinary process are the Office of University Life and the university’s senate, a policy-making group that represents students and faculty.

“Decisions made by the Office of University Life can be appealed to the dean of the student’s school,” said Chang. “Decisions made by the senate can be appealed to a panel of deans and, ultimately, the university’s president.”

Chang added that the university asked student protesters to remove the encampment, in part, to make sure that the university’s commencement ceremony for its 15,000 graduates can continue as planned.

The students at Columbia, the epicenter of the weeklong pro-Palestinian protests, had earlier voted to defy the order and stay.

The post was updated with more details from Monday’s news briefing.

A person walks past a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northwestern University, on Sunday, April 28, in Evanston, Illlinois.

Northwestern University on Monday announced an agreement with student demonstrators to limit the scope of the campus protest and end the encampment at Deering Meadow, the school said in a news release.

Through negotiations with “a group of students and faculty who represent the majority of the protesters on Deering Meadow,” both parties agreed to limit the scope of the protest, while granting some of the organizers’ requests for transparency and free speech protections.

According to the agreement, protesters will be allowed at the site through the end of spring classes — on June 1 — as long as the scope is reduced to one aid tent, sound amplifiers are within university policy and participants are limited to those affiliated with the university. 

The University will also be reconvening its Advisory Committee on Investment and Responsibility in the fall, and in the agreement committed to additional transparency regarding specific investment holdings. Additionally, the University announced it will commit to supporting Palestinian faculty and students, including fully funding the cost of attendance for five Palestinian students and constructing a community space for Middle Eastern and North African/Muslim students.

In a series of Instagram posts, the Northwestern Divestment Coalition, which was involved in establishing the encampment, called the agreement a “first step” toward divestment, saying it was approved by elected representatives in a 17-1 vote. The coalition represents student groups including NU Students for Justice in Palestine and NU Jewish Voice for Peace.

Monday marked the fifth day of the encampment at Northwestern. Counter-protesters and police were present at the encampment sporadically, and the atmosphere remained peaceful and nonviolent over the weekend.

Several protesters have been arrested at UT-Austin Monday, most of whom are not believed to be affiliated with the university, school officials said in a statement. 

Over the weekend, the university received “extensive online threats” from a group that organized Monday’s demonstrations, officials said in the statement. 

The statement added that the threats were reported to local, state and federal law enforcement officials without elaborating. 

“The University will continue to support the free speech and assembly rights of our community while also enforcing its Institutional Rules,” the statement read. 

Protesters wave Palestinian flags on the West Lawn of Columbia University on April 29, 2024. Student demonstrators at Columbia University, the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted at US colleges, said Monday they would not budge until the school met their demands, defying an ultimatum to disperse or face suspension. 

Pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses have entered their second week – just as many universities prepare for graduation ceremonies in the coming weeks.

Hundreds of students have been arrested by law enforcement on various campuses.

A central demand of protesters is for universities to divest from Israel-linked companies that they say are profiting from the war in Gaza..

Here’s what you should know:

More arrests and warnings:

Divestment negotiations:

Schools weigh graduation ceremonies:

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on April 29.

The White House declined to say if President Joe Biden believes that demonstrators who’ve camped out on college campuses across the country to protest against the war in Gaza should face disciplinary actions, repeating the president’s support for the right to peacefully protest while criticizing antisemitic rhetoric and calls for violence. 

The press secretary acknowledged what she called “a painful moment” as the civilian toll in Gaza continues to rise, adding, “We get that it is a painful moment that Americans are dealing with, and free expression has to be done within the law.” 

However, House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated he would consider pulling federal funding to college campuses roiled by protests.

Johnson visited Columbia University last week to meet with Jewish students and delivered remarks with other Republican lawmakers. When Johnson and the GOP lawmakers walked up to begin speaking, there were loud boos from protesters.

“It is unruly; they are allowing mob rule on some of these campuses, and Columbia University was a case in point,” he said.