Students protesting the war in Gaza deserted their camp at the University of Southern California early Sunday after police surrounded them and threatened to arrest them, while Northeastern University’s commencement started peacefully at Boston’s Fenway Park.
Developments in both places were closely monitored after numerous arrests last month — 94 people at USC in Los Angeles and about 100 at Northeastern in Boston.
Many Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived around 4 a.m. at USC to help campus safety officers. The university had warned of arrests on social media and in person. Video showed some protesters packing up and leaving, while officers formed lines to push others away from the camp as it emptied out. The university said there were no reports of any arrests.
USC President Carol Folt said it was time to draw a line because “the occupation was spiraling in a dangerous direction” with areas of campus blocked and people being harassed.
“The operation was peaceful,” Folt wrote in an update. “Campus is opening, students are returning to prepare for finals, and commencement set-up is in full swing.”
USC earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony while allowing other commencement activities to continue.
At the Northeastern commencement Sunday, some students waved Palestinian flags but were outnumbered by those waving the flags of India and the U.S., among others. Graduate students went first, with the larger undergraduate commencement to follow.
The Associated Press has counted about 2,500 people arrested at about 50 campuses since April 18, based on its reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement.
Arrests continued over the weekend. At the University of Virginia, there were 25 arrests Saturday for trespassing after police clashed with protesters who refused to remove tents. At the Art Institute of Chicago campus, police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment hours after it was set up Saturday and arrested 68 people, saying they would be charged with criminal trespass.
Arrests in Virginia
In Charlottesville, Virginia, student demonstrators began their protest on a lawn outside the school chapel Tuesday. Video on Saturday showed police in riot gear and holding shields lined up on campus, while protesters chanted “Free Palestine.”
As police moved in, students were pushed to the ground, pulled by their arms and sprayed with a chemical irritant, Laura Goldblatt, an assistant professor who has been helping the demonstrators, told The Washington Post. The university said protesters were told that tents were banned under school policy and were asked to remove them.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares told Fox News on Sunday the police response was justified because students had been warned repeatedly to leave, were violating the school’s conduct code, and that outsiders who were not students provided protesters with supplies like wooden barriers.
“We’ve seen folks that are not students show up in riot gear with bull horns to direct the protesters on how to flank our officers,” Miyares said.
He stated that some individuals had placed bear spray into water containers and hurled them at officers.
It was the most recent confrontation in a series of protests and strain at colleges and universities in the United States.
Encampments of demonstrators urging universities to stop conducting business with Israel or companies they believe support the conflict in Gaza have grown in a student movement unlike any other in this century. Some institutions have come to agreements with protesters to conclude the protests and decrease the chance of disrupting final exams and graduations.
Protests during graduation ceremonies
The University of Michigan, as well as Indiana University, Ohio State University, and Northeastern, prepared for protests during upcoming commencement events. Additional ceremonies are scheduled in the weeks ahead.
In Ann Arbor, a protest occurred at the start of the event at Michigan Stadium. Approximately 75 individuals, many wearing traditional Arabic kaffiyehs in addition to their graduation caps, marched up the main aisle toward the stage.
While carrying signs, including one that read “No universities left in Gaza,” they chanted “Regents, regents, you can’t hide! You are funding genocide!”
In the sky, planes displayed banners with conflicting messages: “Divest from Israel now! Free Palestine!” and “We stand with Israel. Jewish lives matter.”
Authorities reported that no arrests were made, and the protest did not seriously disrupt the nearly two-hour event, which was attended by tens of thousands of people, some of whom were waving Israeli flags.
Ongoing protests
At Indiana University, protesters encouraged supporters to wear their kaffiyehs and exit during remarks by school President Pamela Whitten on Saturday evening. The Bloomington campus designated a protest area outside Memorial Stadium, where the ceremony took place.
At Princeton University in New Jersey, 18 students initiated a hunger strike in an attempt to pressure the university to divest from companies connected to Israel. Students at other colleges, including Brown and Yale, began similar hunger strikes earlier this year before the more recent surge of demonstrations.
The protests are a result of the conflict that began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, resulting in approximately 1,200 casualties, predominantly civilians, and around 250 hostages. In an effort to eradicate Hamas, Israel initiated a campaign in Gaza that led to the deaths of over 34,500 Palestinians, with about two-thirds being women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-governed territory. Israeli attacks have devastated the region and forced the majority of its residents to flee.
