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(NewsNation) — Troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety arrested students, throwing some to the ground, during pro-Palestinian protests on the University of Texas at Austin’s campus Wednesday.
The Palestinian Solidarity Committee of Austin organized the protest, NewsNation local affiliate KXAN reported.
“In the footsteps of our comrades at Columbia SJP, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Yale, and countless others across the nation, we will be establishing THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY FOR GAZA and demanding our administration divest from death,” a PSC social media post said.
Within two hours, KXAN reported, the protest “tripled” in size. Troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety walked onto campus with riot gear Wednesday afternoon.
Heavily armed police, including several on horseback, made more than 34 arrests after being deployed to the campus.
In a statement, the office of the university’s dean of students said: “Simply put, The University of Texas at Austin will not allow this campus to be ‘taken’ and protesters to derail our mission in ways that groups affiliated with your national organization have accomplished elsewhere.”
Some members of UT Austin faculty are planning to go on strike Thursday in protest. A statement says they will gather in front of the UT Tower at 12:15 p.m. CT.
The protests at the University of Texas are among many demonstrations college students across the country are conducting against the Israeli military offensive in Gaza that has killed an estimated 34,000 Palestinians. Many are also calling on university officials to stop investing in countries they say support the apartheid in Israel.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also commented on the protest, calling for the protesters to be jailed.
At the University of Southern California, protests started calmly Wednesday morning but grew contentious as campus police started clearing an encampment in Alumni Park. USC later closed the gates and shut down the campus, only allowing students in.
Shortly after the campus clash, Andrew T. Guzman, USC’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, issued a statement saying the university “values freedom of expression” but added that it also has the “highest priority and responsibility is to protect the safety of our community and ensure our academic programs and university activities continue unabated.”
The protesters’ “actions have escalated to the point of confrontation and have threatened the safety of our officers and campus community,” Guzman said.
Police in riot gear arrested several pro-Palestinian demonstrators at USC after ordering the large crowd to disperse. Authorities also created a skirmish line as dozens of other protesters refused to leave Wednesday night.
Some people cooperated and began walking off campus, but more than 100 people remained, including a group gathered in a circle and standing with their arms linked. Officers began surrounding the circle and the nearby crowds began chanting, “We only wanted peace!” and “Hands off students!”
Officers began arresting several people from the circle by 6 p.m. before some voluntarily surrendered. The protestors remained mostly peaceful throughout the demonstration outside of several isolated incidents.
Protesters from California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt this week used furniture, tents, chains and zip ties to block a building’s entrance, prompting officials to close the school through Wednesday.
An encampment at Brown University in Rhode Island was made by about 90 students shortly after 6 a.m., NewsNation local affiliate WRPI wrote.
“Encampment on Brown University’s historic and residential greens is a violation of University policy, and all of the students participating have been informed they will face conduct proceedings,” Brown University said in a statement. “This policy is years old, established in October 2011, and not new. Protest is an acceptable means of expression at Brown, but it becomes unacceptable when it violates University policies that are intended to ensure the safety of members of the Brown community and that there is no interference in the rights of others to engage in the regular operations of the university.”
A university spokesperson noted, though, that they have not seen any “violence, harassment (or) intimidation” at Brown stemming from protests.
NewsNation local affiliate WCMH reported that two Ohio State University students were arrested at a pro-Palestine protest on campus Tuesday afternoon.
University spokesperson Ben Johnson said the students were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing after ignoring multiple warnings.
Minnesota Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar attended a protest late Tuesday at the University of Minnesota, following the arrest of nine protesters after police took down an encampment in front of the library.
Hundreds had rallied in the afternoon to demand their release.
“I am incredibly moved by your courage and bravery as a student body in putting your bodies on the line to stand in solidarity to end the genocide taking place in Gaza,” Omar told those gathered, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Columbia Protest Fallout
Encampments at other colleges were created following mass arrests at Columbia University last Thursday.
On Tuesday, Columbia said most classes will be held in a hybrid manner for the rest of the spring semester, and it upped security amid the demonstrations, NewsNation affiliate WPIX wrote. The campus locked its gate to anyone without a school ID.
After a midnight deadline set by the university to disband the protest was not met on Tuesday, the president of Columbia, Minouche Shafik, sent out an email saying she fully supports the importance of free speech, but the encampment has created a “tense and at times hostile environment.”
“It is essential we move forward to dismantle it,” Shafik said.
Student protesters committed to “removing a significant number of tents,” the university said, with the Associated Press reporting that a smaller encampment remained on campus as of Wednesday morning.
Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said in a statement late Tuesday night that the university threatened to call both the National Guard and New York Police Department if they did not “acquiesce to their demands.”
“We remain steadfast in our convictions and will not be intimidated by the university’s disturbing threat of an escalation of violence,” Columbia SJP wrote. “Since good faith negotiations are impossible if one side threatens use of force to extract concessions, the student negotiating team has left the table and refuses to return until there is a written commitment that the administration will not be unleashing the NYPD or the National Guard on its students.”
Several lawmakers have criticized Shafik over her handling of the protests and urged her to take stronger action to rein them in. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, visiting Columbia Wednesday, said she should resign.
“The virus of antisemitism has spread across other campuses,” Johnson said. “The madness has to stop.”
During a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt before his visit, Johnson suggested cutting federal dollars to universities where protests are happening.
“You don’t have a right to be here and to do this, but Jewish students have a right to be able to peacefully attend classes,” Johnson said. “They’re trying to get an education, and this is just madness. I mean, it’s just ridiculous. And we’re calling upon and demanding these university officials to get control.”
Columbia said at about 3 a.m. Wednesday, there was “constructive dialogue” with protesters and it aims to continue conversations for about 48 hours.
Campus protests start debates
The demonstrations at Columbia and elsewhere have sparked debate, criticism and support, with some saying that the recent arrests and suspensions of student protestors are a violation of their First Amendment Rights.
The New York Civil Liberties Union in a statement Tuesday cautioned universities against being too quick to call in law enforcement.
“Officials should not conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism or use hate incidents as a pretext to silence political views they oppose,” said Donna Lieberman, the group’s executive director.
Some students, though, say they are concerned that some criticism of Israel has veered into antisemitism.
Protesters have said that those being antisemitic do not represent them and pointed out that many Jewish students are joining them in their cause. In addition, Jewish protesters at Columbia said at a news conference Tuesday that they have faced antisemitism themselves because they supported Palestine. Palestinian students, they added, have also not felt safe on campus in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams blamed what he called “outside agitators” at protests for division on campuses.
City officials identified individuals who don’t attend universities at protests happening on campus, Adams said, with several non-students using them to “cause violence in our city.”
NewsNation’s Joe Khalil, Cassie Buchman, Dana Leavitt and The Associated Press contributed to this report.