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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Kari Paul (now); Dani Anguiano, Léonie Chao-Fong, Maya Yang and Fran Lawther (earlier)

Dozens arrested in California and Texas as campus administrators move to shut down protests – as it happened

Columbia University Columbia (Organization) Minouche Shafik Gaza Chuck Schumer Joe Biden Mitch McConnell Israel United States
A woman is arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas in Austin,
A woman is arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas in Austin, Photograph: Jay Janner/AP

Summary: Dozens arrested across the US in student protests against war in Gaza

Police arrested dozens participating in peaceful student-led protests against the war on Gaza on Wednesday.

Students have set up encampments at a number of universities in recent days to protest the war on Gaza and demand the schools divest from companies that are closely linked to Israel’s military operations.

Here’s the latest:

  • At least 34 protesters, including a member of the media from a local news station, were arrested during demonstrations at University of Texas in Austin on Wednesday.

  • Faculty at University of Texas, Austin have announced a strike in response to what they called a “militarized response” to a “peaceful, planned action” on campus.

  • At least 50 protesters were detained by Los Angeles police at University of Southern California (USC) during peaceful protests. Earlier in the day, police responding to a demonstration at USC got into a back-and-forth tugging match with protesters over tents.

  • Last week at Columbia University, the focal point of national student demonstrations, more than 100 students, faculty members and others were arrested.

  • More than 140 additional people were arrested on Monday night at a separate protest at New York University’s Manhattan campus.

  • House speaker Mike Johnson appeared at Columbia University on Wednesday where he called for the resignation of the president of the university over her handling of the protests at the school.

  • Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez assailed authorities for the “reckless and dangerous act” of calling police to non-violent demonstrations.

  • US schools where protests have been reported include: University of Minnesota, Harvard University, Ohio State, University of California-Berkeley, University of Southern California, University of Texas-Austin, University of Michigan; Emerson College, MIT, Tufts University, Yale University, the New School, New York University, and Columbia University. Students at Sciences Po in Paris also began a solidarity protest on Wednesday.

The number of protesters arrested on USC’s campus has surpassed 50, according to a LA Times reporter on the scene.

LAPD has arrested at least 15 protesters on the USC campus, according to a Los Angeles Times reporter on the scene.

The arrests came after law enforcement and university leadership told protesters to disperse. Protesters began to clash with law enforcement, some of whom shoved students, video shows.

Updated

The number of people arrested as part of the University of Texas protests on Wednesday is at least 54, according to a reporter for local news publication the Austin American-Statesman.

The number comes from the Austin Lawyers Guild, a leftist group that provides protest legal defense. The Guardian has reached out to the group for more details.

Updated

Some USC protesters dispersed after the arrival of LAPD officers on campus, but dozens who remained are now facing off with law enforcement.

In a statement posted on X at 5.50pm PST, the university said anyone remaining at the center of campus would be arrested.

Updated

Los Angeles police officers are moving onto the USC campus to arrest protesters for trespassing, as they believe many demonstrators are not students, they said.

In an announcement made via helicopter, LAPD officers told the protesters “Your time is up. Leave the area or you will be arrested for trespassing.”

Updated

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israel prime minister, said on Wednesday that student protests against the war in Gaza were “horrific”, characterizing protesters as “antisemitic mobs”.

While there have been reports of antisemitism on campuses in recent weeks, protest organizers have blamed such incidents on outside agitators, insisting that their movements are peaceful. A group of professors at New York University released an open letter denying that any NYU-affiliated protesters had engaged in antisemitism or intimidation of others.

Many Jewish-led groups protesting the war in Gaza have also pushed back against such allegations. As protests aligned with the Jewish Passover holiday this week, encampments at Yale and Columbia held Passover seders on Monday.

When asked this week whether he condemned “the antisemitic protests”, President Joe Biden said he did. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians,” he said.

Updated

Local news station Fox 7 Austin has confirmed that one of its photographers was arrested on campus during the protests Wednesday.

A video shows the photographer being pulled backwards to the ground by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers. The station says he was then detained and taken to jail.

Updated

Members of the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin have condemned what they call a “militarized response” to pro-Palestine protests on campus Wednesday.

The statement said the peaceful, planned action was disrupted by police and state troopers, who responded violently and “made our entire community unsafe”.

“We have witnessed police punching a female student, knocking over a legal observer, dragging a student over a chain-link fence, and violently arresting students for simply standing at the front of the crowd,” the statement said.

In response, the faculty members stated that on Thursday there would be “no business as usual”, suspending classes, grading and homework. They called for a gathering on campus at 12.15pm on Thursday.

Updated

Many of the protesters at the University of Texas have dispersed, but others have returned to the south lawn as the large police presence has waned. The department of public safety confirmed in a public statement that there were 20 arrests as a result of protests today.

Updated

As protests continue at the University of Texas in Austin, police have encouraged occupants to disperse via an audio announcement that could be heard across campus. From local news reporter Ryan Chandler:

Updated

Here are photos from Austin where police, including some on horses and holding batons, blocked the main lawn at the University of Texas and pulled several students to the ground to stop demonstrators from marching through campus.

A woman is arrested at a pro-Palestinan protest at the University of Texas.
A woman is arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas. Photograph: Jay Janner/AP

Updated

Journalist arrested in Texas amid tense protests at UT Austin

Police in Texas have arrested a journalist who was covering the protest at the University of Texas at Austin. A Fox 7 photographer was reportedly arrested after getting caught between protesters and law enforcement.

Officers have clashed with students after dozens of local police and state troopers formed a line to stop protesters from marching through campus. They have detained multiple people. Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, said arrests would continue until “the crowd disperses”.

“These protesters belong in jail,” he said.

Updated

Cal Poly Humboldt, a public university on the far northern coast of California, where pro-Palestinian students are occupying a campus building, said on Wednesday that it would remain closed through the weekend.

Protesters have barricaded themselves in Siemens Hall since Monday evening despite a large showing of local law enforcement who unsuccessfully attempted to force them out. Police have arrested three protesters.

Students are reportedly also holding a sit-in in another campus building.

The university said it is considering keeping the campus closed beyond the weekend, and accused students of stealing items and breaking “numerous laws”.

Aside from the confrontation with police, media outlets report the mood on campus has been festive. Students there told the Sacramento Bee they felt compelled to take action.

“I think the solution is to get involved, because at least I can feel like I’m doing my part. Even if it’s not enough, I’m doing the best I can to make something of it. I find peace in that,” one student said.

Updated

White House: Biden supports free speech on college campuses

With protests under way at universities across the US, the White House said on Wednesday that Joe Biden supports freedom of expression on college campuses.

“The president believes that free speech, debate and nondiscrimination on college campuses are important,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary, said at a briefing.

Updated

At least 10 arrests at University of Texas in Austin

At least 10 protesters have been arrested at the University of Texas at Austin, according to the school.

Dozens of state troopers and police officers in riot gear were at the scene after hundreds of students walked out of class to protest the war in Gaza and demand the university divest from companies that manufacture machinery used in Israel’s war.

“UT Austin does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses,” a statement by the university’s division of student affairs said.

This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption.

Updated

Johnson calls on Columbia University president to resign

House speaker Mike Johnson, speaking on the steps outside the Low Library at Columbia University, called for the resignation of the president of the university, Minouche Shafik, over her handling of the protests at the school. Johnson said:

I am here today, joining my colleagues and calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.

Johnson’s speech was repeatedly interrupted by a crowd of protesters. “Enjoy your free speech,” the speaker replied.

Updated

Mike Johnson slams college protests in remarks at Columbia University

The House speaker, Mike Johnson, is giving a news conference surrounded by a group of House Republicans, amid boos and chants of “We can’t hear you” and “Free, free Palestine”.

Johnson urged that the “madness has to stop” and said Jewish students had shared with him experiences of “heinous acts of bigotry” because of their faith.

Quoting Winston Churchill, Johnson said “it is manifestly right that the Jews should have a National Home where some of them may be reunited.”

Johnson claimed Columbia University is being “overtaken by radical extreme ideologies” that “place a target on the backs of Jewish students”, adding:

Let me say this very simply: no American of any color or creed should ever have to live under those kinds of threats. That is not who we are in this country.

He said he met briefly with the president of Columbia University and encouraged her to take more action against the protesters.

Updated

New York governor says Johnson 'adding to division' with Columbia University visit

Kathy Hochul, the Democratic governor of New York, called Mike Johnson’s trip to Columbia University “divisive” and accused the House speaker of “politicizing the issue”.

According to the New York Post, Hochul said:

There’s a lot more responsibilities and crises to be dealt with in Washington. I’d encourage the speaker to go back and perhaps take up the migrant bill, the bill to deal with closing the border, so we can deal with a real crisis that New York has.

Updated

A crowd has gathered on the Low Steps of Columbia University, where the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, is expected to deliver remarks at a press conference after meeting with Jewish students today.

In a radio interview this morning, Johnson said he would call on the president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, to resign after failing to crack down on the protests.

Updated

There is “significant activity” at the University of Southern California’s university park campus in Los Angeles, the school said in an update this afternoon.

As we reported earlier, videos posted to social media show students taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations being forcibly arrested by police.

As Columbia’s administration faces growing backlash following president Minouche Shafik’s decision last week to authorize police to dismantle Palestinian solidarity encampments and arrest students, a page on the university’s website has been garnering some attention online.

The page reflects on the 1968 protests that swept through Columbia as students demonstrated against the Vietnam war and the construction of a segregated gym in Morningside Park.

It says:

Columbia is a far different place today than it was in the spring of 1968 when protesters took over University buildings amid discontent about the Vietnam War, racism and the University’s proposed expansion into Morningside Park. After a weeklong standoff, New York City Police stormed the campus and arrested more than 700 people. The fallout dogged Columbia for years.

It took decades for the University to recover from those turbulent times. Columbia now has one of the most socio-economically diverse student bodies among its peer institutions.”

Updated

As students are arrested across the country over demonstrations and encampments held in solidarity with Palestine, New York University – which describes itself on its website as “a campus without walls” – has set up plywood walls.

The walls come after New York police arrested multiple protesters following demonstrations on Monday during which students and faculty called for the university to divest from Israel.

Here are some images surfacing online from NYU:

Updated

The Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has issued a statement about the crackdown on students at the University of Texas, Austin following their anti-war protests and calls for the university to “divest from death” in Israel.

In a statement on X, the ACLU chapter wrote:

“The freedom to protest is integral to our democracy.

UT Austin students have a First Amendment right to freely express their political opinions - without threats of arrest and violence.

If you or someone you know needs legal support, call the Austin Lawyers Guild: 512-817-4254.”

Here are more images and videos surfacing online from the University of Texas, Austin where state troopers have marched on to campus as anti-war students protest Israel’s war on Gaza:

Students forcibly arrested at University of Southern California in LA

Videos emerging online show students being forcibly arrested by police at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Campus officials have also dismantled Palestinian solidarity encampments set up earlier today by students who are demanding for USC to divest from Israel, along with a ceasefire in Gaza where Israeli forces have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians.

Updated

Columbia University student protesters said the university has provided a “written commitment and concession not to call the NYPD or the National Guard” to break up the encampments.

A statement from Columbia students for justice in Palestine reads:

The university’s previous threats of an imminent sweep by the NYPD or the National Guard had severed negotiations. The administration’s threats backfired when student negotiators refused to stay at the table.

“Thousands of peaceful students flooded the lawns in support of their peers” in response to the failed negotiations, it said.

Student protestors on Columbia’s campus – the majority of whom are Palestinian, Black, brown, and Jewish students from marginalized backgrounds – stood by each other for hours last night, awaiting the outcome of Columbia’s disturbing threat of military or police violence.

Anti-war student protesters at France’s most prestigious politics school, Sciences Po, have begun pitching tents on the university’s campus.

Bilge Kotan, a student and journalist at Sciences Po, said about 70 people would camp at the university’s Saint-Thomas campus, demanding the institution cut ties with Israeli universities and stop “repression” of pro-Palestinian voices.

Updated

Protesters arrested at University of Texas in Austin - reports

Pictures and videos on social media show Texas state troops in riot gear at the University of Texas at Austin campus during a pro-Palestinian protest.

An Instagram reel posted by the Palestine Solidarity Committee in Austin said the university administration officials called on state troops “in an attempt to scare us into silence”.

In a post on X, the Daily Texan said about 50 state troopers were at the campus, some on horseback, and that arrests were under way.

Updated

Throughout the afternoon on Tuesday, loudspeakers blared speeches given by UC Berkeley professors and students in support of the sit-in, as a few dozen people stood and listened.

But campus life otherwise carried on. University clubs recruited from behind tables lining the plaza, students streamed by on their way to class, while others worked from laptops in the courtyard.

There is minimal police or security presence on site, but the students are bracing for that to change. They have been vocal about their determination to stay even if the university tries to have them forcibly removed.

The “Free Palestine Camp,” is one of many actions that have been taken at UC Berkeley in opposition to the recent violent escalation in Gaza that’s left tens of thousands of civilians dead, and the encampment was designed in solidarity with protests at Columbia University. It also follows decades of demonstrations in support of Palestinians at the school.

Two Ohio State students arrested at campus protest

Two Ohio State University students were arrested on Tuesday and charged with criminal trespassing during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the university campus, school officials said.

The protest was organized by several groups, including the Palestinian liberation movement and Ohio youth for climate justice, the Lantern reported.

Isabella Guinigundo, a spokesperson for Ohio youth for climate justice, told the student newspaper that the protesters were told by the police that they were being too loud before officers approached the crowd, pulling them out and arresting them.

In a statement, OSU spokesperson Benjamin Johnson said:

When yesterday’s demonstration became disruptive to the students, faculty and staff in Meiling Hall, the university issued multiple warnings. When the disruptive activity continued, two individuals were arrested. Ohio State has an unwavering commitment to freedom of speech and took this action in alignment with our space use rules to provide for the orderly conduct of university business.

UC Berkeley protest encampment grows on third day

Now in its third day, the protest encampment at UC Berkeley has steadily grown.

Rows of tents were added to the cluster set up on the steps of Sproul Hall at the center of campus. Draped overhead, a banner reads “An injury to Gaza is an injury to all,” one of many signs posted through the protest outlining the students’ objectives: they have committed to camping here until their school agrees to add a sever its financial connections to BlackRock and other asset managers they see as complicit for financing genocide in Gaza.

UC Berkeley holds a $427m investment in a BlackRock portfolio and school officials have commented that a change in their investment strategy is not on the table.

But the protesters are also calling for an academic boycott, which would end collaborations with Israeli universities and the establishment of a new Palestinian Studies program.

Updated

The Harvard University encampment comes after the university suspended the Harvard undergraduate Palestine solidarity committee on Monday and ordered the group to “cease all organizational activities for the remainder of the Spring 2024 term” or risk permanent expulsion.

The group, which describes itself as a “Harvard student group in pursuit of liberation through justice for Palestine,” said it would continue to advocate for Palestine regardless of Harvard’s decision. A statement from the group said:

You can suspend our organization and threaten our students, but you will never silence our calls for Divestment from apartheid, occupation and genocide.

Updated

Harvard University launches pro-Palestinian encampment

Pro-Palestinian protesters launched an encampment at Harvard University’s Harvard Yard this morning to protest against the suspension of the university’s undergraduate Palestine solidarity committee and demand the university divest from Israel’s war in Gaza.

The encampment marks the largest protest on Harvard’s campus since former university president Claudine Gay’s resignation earlier this year, the Harvard Crimson reports.

The student newspaper said the university was restricting access to Harvard Yard to only university ID holders until Friday.

Harvard interim president Alan Garber told the paper on Monday that he would not rule out a police response to protests, but said it would require a “very high bar”.

Updated

Biden does not plan to visit Columbia University protests - report

Joe Biden does not plan to visit Columbia University when he visits New York on Friday, White House and campaign officials told CNN.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said yesterday that the White House was monitoring “closely” the protests on college campuses and that the president takes seriously the conversations he has had with community leaders about the current “painful moment”. Bates told reporters:

But as I said, when we witness calls for violence, physical intimidation, hateful, antisemitic rhetoric, those are unacceptable. We will denounce them. The president knows that silence is complicity and that’s why he uses the platforms he has to try and ensure that our fellow Americans are safe.

Updated

Joe Biden praised legislation he signed today that rushes in foreign aid including more than $26bn to Israel as a bipartisan legislative victory on a “good day for world peace”.

The president, in remarks delivered from the White House, shortly after signing the legislation, said:

It’s going to make America safer. It’s going to make the world safer.

The bill includes about $1bn in humanitarian relief for Palestinians in Gaza.

In remarks delivered from the White House, Biden urged Israel to ensure the humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the bill reaches Gaza “without delay”.

Cameron Jones first learned about fossil fuel divestment as a 15-year-old climate organizer. When he enrolled at Columbia University in 2022, he joined the campus’s chapter of the youth-led climate justice group the Sunrise Movement and began pushing the school in New York to sever financial ties with coal, oil and gas companies.

Today, 19-year-old Jones, like many other student protesters and campus organizers, is just as focused on pushing the school to divest from another group of businesses: those profiting from Israel’s war in Gaza. He and others see the issues as firmly connected, with activists learning from tactics used in both of the often overlapping movements.

On Monday, Jones, speaking from the student encampment of demonstrators on Columbia’s campus who are protesting against the war and the university’s ties to Israel, said:

Once we see large institutions like universities taking the steps to sever ties with harmful institutions, we will then hopefully see corporations and countries and cities follow suit.

In particular, students are demanding the university drop its direct investments in companies doing business in or with Israel, including Amazon and Google, which are part of a $1.2bn cloud-computing contract with the state’s government; Microsoft, whose services are used by Israel’s ministry of defense and Israeli civil administration; and defense contractors profiting from the war such as Lockheed Martin, which on Tuesday reported its earnings were up 14%.

Read the full story: How divestment became a ‘clarion call’ in anti-fossil fuel and pro-ceasefire protests

Cal Poly Humboldt, a public university on California’s northern coast, remained closed on Wednesday after pro-Palestinian protesters barricaded themselves in a campus building for a sit-in.

Law enforcement and students clashed on Monday as police tried to clear Siemens Hall. Video posted by a student activist group showed students chanting “we are not afraid of you” before officers in riot gear attempted to take them into custody. Police could be seen swinging batons at demonstrators as the group pushed them back. The officers reportedly left after an hours-long standoff.

Three protesters were arrested on Monday evening after the confrontation with law enforcement, the university said in a statement. Dozens of students remain inside the building and have barricaded entrances with furniture, according to the university, while others occupied another nearby building.

The campus is closed through Wednesday and classes are being held remotely.

The encampment at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles this morning comes days after the university controversially cancelled the valedictorian speech of a Muslim student.

The Los Angeles university’s provost, Andrew Guzman, said last week that it took the unprecedented step of canceling valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s speech because of the “alarming tenor” of reactions to her selection as valedictorian – along with “the intensity of feelings” surrounding Israel’s military strikes in Gaza – had created “substantial risks relating to security”.

The university’s decision was met with outrage from the Council of American Islamic Relations (Cair), the US’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and free speech groups. Students and faculty marched across campus last Thursday in silent protest of the university’s decision.

Tabassum described herself as “shocked … and profoundly disappointed” after being informed that she would be barred from addressing her fellow graduates at their 10 May commencement.

The university later decided to cancel the keynote speech by film-maker Jon M Chu, citing the “highly publicized circumstances surrounding our main-stage commencement program”.

Biden signs foreign aid package including $26.3bn for Israel

Joe Biden has signed into law legislation that rushes $95bn in foreign aid more than $26bn for Israel and humanitarian relief for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza.

The legislation includes $60.8bn to replenish Ukraine’s war chest as it seeks to repel Russia from its territory; $26.3bn for Israel and humanitarian relief for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8.1bn for the Indo-Pacific region to bolster its defenses against China.

Demonstrators have set up an encampment and protest at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

The encampment began this morning at Alumni Park, according to the USC Divest from Death coalition. The group’s statement reads:

We, the USC Divest from Death Coalition, establish our occupation most fundamentally in solidarity with the people of Palestine as they resist genocide and continue in their struggle for liberation.

It lists six demands of the university: “End War Profiteering and Investment in Genocide”; “Complete Academic Boycott of Israel”; “Protect free speech on campus and provide full amnesty”; “Stop the Displacement, from South Central to Palestine”; “No Policing on Campus”; and “End the Silence on the Genocide in Palestine”.

Johnson to call on Columbia University president to resign

Mike Johnson said he will call on the president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, to resign when he joins Jewish students at the university later today.

The House speaker, in an interview with Hugh Hewitt this morning, accused Shafik of being “a very weak, inept leader”, adding:

They cannot even guarantee the safety of Jewish students? They are expected to run for their lives and stay home from class? It’s maddening.

He continued:

What we are seeing on these college campuses across the country is disgusting and unacceptable and every leader in this country, every political official, every citizen of good conscience has to speak out and say that ‘this is not who we are in America.’ And we got to have accountability and that is what my colleagues and I will be working on.

Updated

The New York University Palestine solidarity coalition has issued a statement slamming the university’s authorization of the arrest of more than 140 protesters on Monday night.

School officials asked the New York police department for help clearing a plaza on NYU’s Manhattan campus, police said. Students, faculty and others were arrested that night.

In a statement, the university’s Palestine solidarity coalition accused the university of “acting in bad faith, stalling negotiations, and refusing to communicate decisions”. It said:

We will not let the NYU administration twist our words and actions, words and actions that are in favor of liberation. We will not let NYU administration weaponize Judaism to stifle free speech, muzzle the Palestinian fight for freedom, and get away with supporting a genocide that has been going on for 200 days.

The Senate yesterday voted resoundingly an aid package that includes more than $26bn for Israel and humanitarian relief for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza.

The final vote was 79 to 18 for the package that also included aid for Ukraine and Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

Hundreds of protesters gathered on Tuesday night near at Grand Army Plaza in New York, on the doorstep of Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn residence, calling on him to stop arming Israel’s military, which relies heavily on US weapons, jet fuel and other military equipment.

Joe Biden praised congressional leaders and lawmakers after the Senate vote for what he called an effort “to answer history’s call at this critical inflection point”.

Updated

About 90 Brown University students set up an encampment and protest this morning, according to the university.

A university spokesperson said encampment on the university’s “historic and residential greens is a violation of university policy”, adding that students participating were informed that will be subject to “conduct proceedings”. The statement continued:

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 statement by Brown Divest Coalition called on the university to “end their ongoing repression of student protesters advocating for a liberated Palestine”.

From NBC10’s Allegra Zamore:

Updated

Hundreds of Jewish anti-war demonstrators were arrested during a Passover seder that doubled as a protest in New York.

Protesters shut down a major thoroughfare to pray for a ceasefire and urge the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, to end military aid to Israel, close to his Brooklyn home.

About 300 arrests took place at Grand Army Plaza, where thousands of mostly Jewish New Yorkers gathered for the seder, a ritual that marked the second night of the holiday celebrated as a festival of freedom by Jews worldwide.

The seder came just before the Senate resoundingly passed a military package that includes $26bn for Israel.

AOC says Columbia University calling police on protesters was a 'reckless, dangerous act'

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticized the decision by Columbia University to call the police on pro-Palestinian protesters at its New York City campus.

Posting to X, the New York congresswoman wrote:

Calling in police enforcement on nonviolent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalatory, reckless, and dangerous act.

It represents a heinous failure of leadership that puts people’s lives at risk. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.

Nine students were arrested at the University of Minnesota on Tuesday, a university spokesperson said today.

The student coalition set up tents in front of the Walter Library and university police began “harassing” the encampment, protesters said. Students gathered outside the Coffman Memorial union on Tuesday night with plans to sleep in tents, but the encampment was cleared overnight, CBS news reported.

“The group was asked to disperse by 7am and told they would be arrested if they chose to stay past that time,” a school spokesperson said.

They added that the University of Minnesota “supports and respects free speech through lawful protest”, but that “tents are not allowed on any University property for any purpose without a permit”, adding:

I want to be clear that protests where groups express diverse views and opinions occur regularly on our campus and typically occur without arrests. The choice to establish and remain in a prohibited encampment led to this morning’s arrests.

Updated

Mike Johnson to visit Columbia University

Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, will visit Columbia University today to speak to Jewish students and hold a press conference “regarding the troubling rise of virulent antisemitism on America’s college campuses”, his office has said.

New York House Republicans have called on Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, to resign immediately for failing to end the protests.

Updated

Israel defense minister says 'antisemitic' campus protests 'inciting terrorism'

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, has weighed in on the student campus protests, calling them “antisemitic” and claiming they “incite terrorism”.

Writing on X, Gallant added: “To our Jewish brothers and sisters – we stand with you. To university faculties and US authorities – listen to their calls for jihad. Act now to defend Jewish youth.”

Updated

Team Biden, meanwhile, doesn’t appear to be overly concerned yet by any potential impact the campus protests could have on his electoral chances.

Politico reports this morning that campaign officials believe the student vote and the youth vote are not one and the same. One official is quoted as saying: “It’s not going to be for the vast majority of young voters the thing that’s going to determine whether they vote or how they vote.”

A recent Harvard Youth poll, quoted by Politico, says economic issues rather than the war in Gaza is at the forefront of young Americans’ minds. However, Harvard polling guru John Della Volpe was quotes as saying: “How this evolves, who knows? … Hopefully things improve. But I would not be willing to write [the protests] off right now.”

On Tuesday, the Georgia chapter of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine criticized Morehouse College’s decision to go ahead with Biden’s commencement speech.

In a statement, the group called on Morehouse leaders to rescind the invitation and said students and faculty members were not consulted, warning the decision “would do lasting harm to everyone associated with the college”.

Quoting former college president Benjamin E Mays, who said Morehouse graduates must work to correct wrongs and injustices in the world, the statement also added: “President Biden has not demonstrated sensitivity to wrongs sufferings and injustices. And as the one person on the planet who has the power to stop an active genocide, he has not accepted responsibility for correcting the ills.”

Updated

Biden faces risk of protests amid criticism of planned commencement speech

Joe Biden will be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College in Georgia, giving the Democrat a key spotlight on one of the nation’s preeminent historically Black campuses but potentially exposing him to uncomfortable protests as he seeks reelection against former Donald Trump.

The AP reports:

The White House confirmed Tuesday that Biden would speak May 19 at the alma mater of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., and then address the graduating class at the United States Military Academy at West Point on May 25.

The Morehouse announcement has drawn some backlash among the school’s faculty and supporters who are critical of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. That could put the White House and Biden’s reelection campaign in a difficult position as the president works to shore up the racially diverse coalition that propelled him to the Oval Office.

Updated

Which US universities are seeing campus protests?

Campus protests are growing across the US, with arrests this week at Yale and New York universities.

Mother Jones has put together a list of universities where students have set up encampments to protest and demand universities divest from companies that are closely linked to Israel’s military operations.

They include:

  • New York University, where NYPD arrested a number of people on Monday night. NYU professors wrote an open letter signed by the executive committee of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) at the university denying that any NYU-affiliated protesters had engaged in antisemitism or intimidation of others via the demonstration, and decrying heavy-handed tactics by the police. The letter said NYU leadership’s decision to call the New York police department was “capricious” and noted that many protesters were people of color and that the NYPD had a history of brutality against this demographic.

  • The New School in New York, where students reportedly set up camp on Sunday during an event for new students. The New School called the encampment “unauthorized” in a statement.

  • Yale University, where at least 47 protesters were arrested on Monday evening. Several hundred people had been protesting at Yale, including hunger strikers. Craig Birckhead-Morton, 21, who participated in the encampment protest at Yale’s Beinecke Plaza, told the Guardian of his arrest: “We were very surprised. We had built a very peaceful, safe community space where students could engage in discourse with each other, where New Haven and Connecticut community members could come onto the campus and engage with us.” He said the university is still in possession of his belongings from the encampment.

  • Emerson College, MIT, and Tufts University in Boston. “We were definitely inspired by what’s going on at Columbia,” Owen Buxton, an Emerson College student, told the Boston Globe. “They put out the call for universities across the country, and we answered.”

  • The University of Michigan, where about 40 students set up an encampment, according to the student-run newspaper The Michigan Daily.

  • University of California, Berkeley, where students set up a protest camp on Monday, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. About 40 tents were set up by midday on Tuesday. Palestinian flags hung on the tents at Upper Sproul Plaza, which has historically hosted protests on campus. A large sign hung on the building reads: “Gaza Solidarity Encampment Until UC Divests.” “We are demanding a direct acknowledgment and condemnation of this genocide,” Matt Kovac, a member of the UC Berkeley Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine, told the Guardian. “We take inspiration and we stand in solidarity with our colleagues, our fellow students and workers, at Columbia and Yale.”

Updated

Our picture editors have put together a gallery of the most striking photos from the protests at some of the US’s most prestigious universities:

Away from the campus turmoil, hundreds of Jewish anti-war demonstrators were arrested during a Passover seder that doubled as a protest in New York, as they shut down a major thoroughfare to pray for a ceasefire and urge the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, to end US military aid to Israel.

The 300 or so arrests took place on Tuesday night at Grand Army Plaza, on the doorstep of Schumer’s Brooklyn residence, where thousands of mostly Jewish New Yorkers gathered for the seder, a ritual that marked the second night of the holiday celebrated as a festival of freedom by Jews worldwide.

The seder came just before the US Senate resoundingly passed a military package that includes $26bn for Israel.

The protesters called on Schumer – who is among a minority of Democrats to recently criticize the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu – to stop arming Israel’s military, which relies heavily on US weapons, jet fuel and other military equipment.

Republicans demand Biden administration send in federal law enforcement to end protests

Senior Republican US senators on Tuesday waded into growing tensions at leading universities over the Israel-Gaza war, demanding the Biden administration send in federal law enforcement officers to curb pro-Palestinian protests that have led to hundreds of arrests.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, and John Thune, his deputy, wrote to Merrick Garland, the US attorney general, and Miguel Cardona, the education secretary, calling demonstrators “antisemitic, pro-terrorist mobs”.

Twenty-five Republican senators led by McConnell wrote: “The Department of Education and federal law enforcement must act immediately to restore order, prosecute the mobs who have perpetuated [sic] violence and threats against Jewish students, revoke the visas of all foreign nationals (such as exchange students) who have taken part in promoting terrorism, and hold accountable school administrators who have stood by instead of protecting their students.”

The Missouri senator Josh Hawley and Arkansas senator Tom Cotton on Monday called for Joe Biden to send national guard troops on to campuses.

Updated

Columbia university extends deadline for talks to dismantle student protest camps

Columbia University has extended a deadline for talks on dismantling pro-Palestinian protest camps on campus by 48 hours as tension over the Unites States’ handling of the Israel-Gaza war grows.

The New York university has been in talks with student protest leaders to clear the encampment and had originally set a deadline of midnight on Tuesday. Columbia’s president Minouche Shafik warned on Tuesday that the university would “have to consider alternative options for clearing the West Lawn and restoring calm to campus” if discussions failed.

The deadline extension came after students agreed to dismantle a “significant number of tents”, according to the Washington Post. Student negotiators said in a statement that university leaders had threatened to call in the National Guard and NYPD if their demands were not met.

Shafik has faced criticism over her handling of the protests after more than 100 people were arrested at the university last week.

The arrests have since set off a chain of events, including the re-establishment of the encampment and solidarity protests on other US college campuses. Police arrested dozens of people at pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Yale University in Connecticut and New York University in Manhattan on Monday.

The police crackdowns came after Columbia University canceled in-person classes on Monday in response to protesters setting up tent encampments at its New York City campus last week.

Hundreds of faculty members then held a mass walkout to protest against the school president’s decision to have police arrest students at a pro-Palestinian encampment protest last week.

We’ll bring you the latest news and reactions from the protests.

Updated

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