NEW YORK – Demonstrators picketed outside the homes of Columbia University trustees as police cracked down on an encampment in Chicago Tuesday in the latest wave of demonstrations to sweep the nation amid Israel’s intensifying offensive in Gaza.
Police on Tuesday raided an encampment that had been set up on the main quad of the University of Chicago for at least a week, according to school officials. Video of the police response shows officers in riot gear tearing down posters and disassembling tents.
University President Paul Alivisatos said in a statement that no arrests have been made but added that "where appropriate, disciplinary action will proceed." He cited mounting safety concerns for the decision to break up the encampment.
Encampments at universities in Europe increasingly became the site of police action while protesters at the Rhode Island School of Design continuing to occupy a building they took over on Monday. At MIT, demonstrators remained at an encampment on Tuesday after it was mostly emptied out following an ultimatum from the university.
Exactly a week after New York City police raided Columbia University campus at the school administration’s request, students began demonstrating off campus on a sunny Tuesday morning at the homes and offices of the board of trustees.
Less than three dozen demonstrators peacefully picketed outside the posh Upper West Side apartment building of university board of trustees co-chair David Greenwald. Demonstrators accused Greenwald – who joined University President Minouche Shafik in testifying before Congress in April – for his role in the university’s continued support of Israel through investments, as well as the decision to call in the NYPD to dismantle an encampment and clear a building that had been occupied by protesters.“Greenwald, Greenwald, you can’t hide,” the group chanted from across the street, on a tree-lined sidewalk next to the American Museum of Natural History. “You’re supporting genocide.”
The small group of students had several hecklers flip them off or yell at them. At one point, a USA TODAY reporter witnessed the aftermath of an incident in which a woman punched a demonstrator in the face, seemingly at random, near the American Museum of Natural History. The demonstrator nursed her injury on a park bench. NYPD told USA TODAY they hadn't received a call for the incident. A nearby NYPD squad car had been following the marchers, though it's unclear if officers saw the woman punch the demonstrator.
Columbia kicked off the wave of student protests across the country and overseas last month. On Monday, the university announced that it canceled its main commencement and will instead focus on smaller graduation ceremonies.
At universities in Berlin and Amsterdam, police arrested dozens of protesters who, like their American counterparts, were galvanized in opposition of Israel's seven-month offensive in Gaza. Similar protests have broken out at universities across Europe in recent days.
At Free University in Berlin, police arrested more than 100 protesters who had set up an encampment on a campus courtyard, multiple outlets reported.
A statement from the university said a group of 60-80 people, including students from Free University and other institutions, set up an encampment on Tuesday and encouraged others to join. The university said the group refused to negotiate with campus leadership and that property damage had occurred. Additionally, the university called off classes in several campus buildings and closed a cafeteria and a library.
“This kind of protest is not dialogue oriented. An occupation of university property is not acceptable. We welcome academic debate and dialogue – but not in this form,” said Günter M. Ziegler, the president of Free University in a statement.
In the Netherlands, police clashed with protesters for a second day after law enforcement broke up a demonstration at the University of Amsterdam on Monday, Reuters reported.
A group of Columbia University and Barnard College alumni will boycott school reunions later this month, saying they disapprove of how the school used police to respond to peaceful pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
The alumni group said they stand with students and faculty who were expressing their voice to call on the university to disclose and divest endowment money from companies supporting Israel’s government. Until protest demands are met, the alumni group said it will disassociate from school-sponsored celebrations.
“We are unable to reconcile the university’s recent actions with the values and principles that defined our education,” the Columbia Alternative Reunion Committee said in a statement.
Each year, thousands of alumni and their families descend on Columbia’s Manhattan campus after the spring semester to celebrate and reunite with their college community as part of official class reunion events, which come at a fee. Parties, dinners and receptions planned by alumni and university staff will be held the last weekend in May.
Columbia Alternative Reunion Committee said it will be hosting its own events in New York on May 31 and June 1, and ticket proceeds and alumni donations will go to Palestinian aid organizations, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and World Central Kitchen.
“This alternative reunion is welcome to all who feel similarly or wish to learn more in good faith,” the committee said.
The group is also calling for “full amnesty for students and professors unfairly disciplined for exercising their free speech in calling for freedom, safety, and self-determination for the Palestinian people.”
The Columbia Alternative Reunion Committee did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
– Claire Thornton
Students from the Rhode Island School of Design and others occupied a school administration building on campus, forcing the university to relocate some of its classes.
A group called RISD students for Justice in Palestine is leading the occupation of Providence Washington Hall and says it has renamed the building Fathi Ghaben Place, after a Palestinian painter who died earlier this year.
RISD has asked the students to relocate "out of respect for their peers academic' experience," RISD spokeswoman Jaime Marland told the Providence Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. In the meantime, the school is relocating classes that were scheduled for the building Tuesday.
"While we have and continue to affirm our students’ right to freedom of expression, freedom of speech, and peaceful assembly, we also respect the rights of the many students who want to attend their classes," Marland said via email.
– Jack Perry, Providence Journal
Columbia student organizers said a driver hit at least one pro-Palestinian protester on New York City’s Upper East Side Tuesday morning during a rally outside the home of a university trustee.
The New York City Police Department told USA TODAY an argument broke out between protesters and a driver around 9 a.m. Monday. As the group of roughly 25 demonstrators walked away, a driver hit one person with his Volvo, the NYPD said. The driver and two demonstrators have been taken into custody, including the injured person who was hospitalized. The NYPD declined to release their names since they hadn’t been charged as of 3:30 p.m.
Student organizers disputed the NYPD's account. Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the group that organized the picket, said in a statement that demonstrators were on the crosswalk when the driver ran his car into a person identified as a “de-escalation team” member.
The student group said the driver pulled up in his car, asked for a flier then grabbed a protester’s arm. The driver then parked in front of picketers until they were leaving before circling the block to drive into the demonstration, the statement said. Organizers said the injured student has been handcuffed to a bed in the hospital.
– Eduardo Cuevas
The University of California, Los Angeles has solicited the LAPD and FBI to help investigate an incident in which counter-protesters tried to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment, leading to hours of violent clashes.
The incident, which occurred on April 30, has not led to any arrests but caused an uproar of backlash against the campus administration and police force. Along with an investigation into the violent episode, the university's newly created Office of Campus Safety, will review the campus police department’s response to the attack as well as an analysis of UCLA’s safety protocols.
Officials have not identified those involved in the violent counter-protest. Some wore sweatshirts with pro-Israel messages, waved Israeli flags and chanted pro-Israel slogans.
“Holding the instigators of this attack accountable and enhancing our campus safety operations are both critical,” a statement from UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said. “Our community members can only learn, work and thrive in an environment where they feel secure.”
As the sun beamed down Tuesday morning, Sueda Polat, a Columbia graduate student and one of the former campus protest negotiators, chanted outside a Manhattan skyscraper, home to the law offices of Jeh Johnson, a Columbia University trustee.
She was one of dozens participating in protests outside the homes and offices of members of Columbia's Board of Trustees, demonstrations planned by student groups. Polat said many of her fellow classmates will continue to protest outside the Columbia campus walls, as the NYPD has agreed to maintain a presence there until after next week's graduation ceremonies.
“We're still going strong,” she told USA TODAY. “I mean, campus being closed doesn't mean that we don't have anything to do.”
In Massachusetts, more than 400 people protested Monday night outside the home of Alan M. Garber, the president of Harvard University, according to the Harvard Crimson. The rally was organized in reaction to the president refusing to negotiate with protesters at an encampment on Harvard Yard.
Garber in a public statement had earlier demanded that students break up the encampment or face a potential ban from campus.
Pro-Palestinian protesters at MIT, including students, remained in an encampment a day after they were issued an ultimatum to leave or face disciplinary action.
On Monday, Sally Kornbluth, president of the university, set a 2:30 p.m. deadline for students to clear the encampment or they would be prohibited from classes, exams and commencement. By the deadline, most students left, though there was a large demonstration held just outside the encampment by students and outside protesters, the university said.
Around 6:30 p.m., a person hopped a barricade and entered the encampment, “causing a surge, and soon the area was breached,” according to the university. Soon, more than 150 people were inside the encampment.
“We have much work still to do to resolve this situation, and will continue to communicate as needed,” Kornbluth said in a statement Monday night.
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