Updated May 3, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Over 2,000 protesters arrested at college campuses across the U.S.

A California Highway Patrol officer detains a protester while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles, campus, on Thursday, May 2. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

There were tense scenes at UCLA and other colleges into Thursday night as police moved onto campuses in efforts to quell pro-Palestinian protests that have swept U.S. campuses.

The big picture: It's estimated 2,000-plus people have been arrested on campuses across the U.S. in the past three weeks, as colleges nationwide crack down on protests against the Israel-Hamas war amid a rise in reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus.

In echoes of Vietnam War protests some five decades ago, students are calling for universities to divest in any investments connected with Israel's government.
Student organizers at New Jersey's Rutgers University and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on Thursday joined Northwestern and Brown universities in reaching agreements with administrators to end encampments as talks on students' divestment demands continue.

The latest: Portland State University emerged as the latest college flashpoint on Thursday when police ended anti-Gaza war protesters' occupation of the college's Millar Library and arrested at least 29 people.

Hours after law enforcement officers cleared the library, police said protesters pulled down the fence and broke back in Thursday night and more arrests were made.

State of play: Columbia University in New York, the epicenter for the protests, and the University of California, Los Angeles, have both seen a heavy police presence following dozens of arrests on campus this week.

A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told media outlets Thursday that an NYPD officer's gun went off inside a Columbia University building while clearing out protesters earlier this week.
Only police officers were in the immediate area when the incident occurred, but a review has been launched as is standard protocol in such instances, the spokesperson added.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, authorities said 210 protesters were arrested after officers in riot gear moved in to dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment Thursday morning.

Zoom in: Dozens of arrests have been made on campus in New York alone this week, including at Columbia University, the City College of New York and Fordham University.

At Stony Brook University, News 12 Long Island reported that protesters were rallying on Thursday afternoon to protest the Gaza war and to demand that charges and suspensions against 29 people arrested overnight be dropped.

In New Hampshire, police said 90 people were arrested at Dartmouth College "for multiple offenses including criminal trespass and resisting arrest" early Thursday and multiple arrests were also made at the University of New Hampshire late Wednesday.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison confirmed in an online post that police arrested 34 people on Wednesday at an anti-Gaza war protest that left four officers injured. Professors were among those arrested, according to the Washington Post.

Police in Dallas arrested 17 pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the city's University of Texas campus for criminal trespassing on Wednesday, a college spokesperson said in an email.

At Tulane University in New Orleans, at least 14 people were arrested after police including SWAT teams removed a pro-Palestinian encampment on Wednesday.

The University of Buffalo said in a statement on Thursday that 16 people, were arrested after being "advised of, and failing to comply," with an order to disperse over violations to the university's picketing and assembling policy.