US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said today that “it was a good thing to see” New York police raid a Columbia University building occupied by pro-Palestinian students and called on officials to crack down on protests in all US campuses.
“New York City was under siege last night,” Trump told supporters at a rally in Wisconsin, praising police officers who arrested about 300 protesters at Columbia and City College in New York, whom he described as ” rabid lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.”
The demands of the protesting students vary from school to school, but many are calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war in Gaza and for their universities to divest from companies with military ties to Israel.
Trump’s comments were part of an expansion in recent days of student protests against the Gaza war across the US, as the Republican candidate seeks to capitalize on public concern over unrest on college campuses.
“I say dismantle the camps immediately, crush the radicals and take back our campuses for all normal students who want a safe place to learn,” Trump said.
The Republican candidate also sought to blame the unrest on Democratic President Joe Biden and criticized a possible move by his administration – hinted at by a White House spokesman on Wednesday – to resettle in the US some Palestinian refugees associated with Americans.
“Your towns and villages will now receive people from Gaza and various other places,” Trump said, prompting boos from his supporters. “Under no circumstances should we bring in thousands of refugees,” he added.
Incidents and Arrests on US College Campuses
Police were again deployed on US college campuses yesterday, where new arrests were made, following operations in Los Angeles and New York, where student protests against the war on the Gaza Strip are rocking the US.
At the University of Texas at Dallas, police broke up a protest camp yesterday and arrested at least 17 people for “illegal trespassing,” the institution said.
Law enforcement also arrested several protesters at New York’s Fordham University, where they broke up an encampment that had been set up in the morning on the campus, officials said.
University of New Hampshire encampment is being shut down almost immediately after being set up. Police are smashing tents and then kindly letting pro-Hamas extremists keep their torn cloth banners as a consolation prize.#UCLA #Tampa #Florida #NewYork #Columbia #DC #washington pic.twitter.com/WFHFY0xAQi
— Alex Pleiadian (@AlexPleiad88379) May 2, 2024
Already around 300 people had been arrested on two university campuses in New York, the metropolitan police informed yesterday during a press conference.
On Tuesday night, law enforcement forces removed pro-Palestinian protesters with manu militari from a building at the prestigious Columbia University in Manhattan, where the wave of student demonstrations in support of the Gaza Strip began.
The police were “barbaric and aggressive towards us,” said Megan Bose, a student at Columbia who was present when the operation took place.
“They made arrests indiscriminately (…) many students were injured to the extent that they had to be admitted to hospitals,” complained an alliance of student organizations supporting the Palestinians at Columbia via Instagram.
“I’m sorry we’ve come to this,” Minous Shafiq, the president of the university, reacted yesterday.
The protesters are fighting for an “important cause,” but recent “disasters” blamed on both “students” and “off-campus activists” have forced her to call for law enforcement to intervene, she explained, while denouncing “anti-Semitic” statements during rallies.
Other protest camps were also broken up early yesterday on the campuses of the University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (southwest and north respectively), according to media reports.
NEW: The NYPD rips down the Palestine flag at City College NY, throwing it on the ground before replacing it with the American flag.
Iconic.
“An incredible scene and proud moment as we have assisted City College NY in restoring order on campus, culminating in raising Old Glory… pic.twitter.com/0EY6ODI5JU
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 1, 2024
Masked men
In the past two weeks, demonstrations in support of the Gaza Strip have proliferated across the US, from California to major universities in the Northeast, with the wave of protests reminding many of the movement against the Vietnam War.
The students called on higher education institutions to sever ties with Israel-linked universities and companies and denounced Washington’s support for its major Middle Eastern ally.
The perpetrators of the attack tried to dismantle a makeshift barricade around the camp. Demonstrators and counter-demonstrators engaged in skirmishes with batons or throwing objects.
By yesterday morning, calm had been restored, but dozens of police vehicles remained at the scene.
“The university should discourage attacks by counter-protesters against those who are peaceful,” Daniel Harris, a 23-year-old student, told AFP, adding that the attackers “didn’t appear to be students, or people who have anything to do with the university.”
Foundation president Gene Block warned against violence and the presence of people unrelated to the foundation on campus.
On Sunday, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists, backed by protesters outside the university, held hands and exchanged insults.
These events “caused, especially among Jewish students, deep anxiety and fear,” he added.
Jewish students fight back at UCLA 💪🇮🇱#Uclaprotest#UCLA#ColumbiaUniversity #Columbia pic.twitter.com/lUtnIdi1eR
— Sarit Sher (@sarithatzira) May 1, 2024
President Biden ‘must speak’
Unlike other institutions, Brown University, in Rhode Island, announced that it had reached an agreement with the protesters. Their camp was agreed to be disbanded in exchange for a university vote in October on the eventual “divestment” of “companies ‘enabling and profiting from the genocide in Gaza'”.
According to an AFP tally, law enforcement forces have made arrests in at least 30 university facilities since April 17.
Images of police in riot gear on college campuses have gone viral and sparked a political backlash six months before the highly polarized US presidential election.
The White House yesterday condemned the “small percentage” of students causing “riots”.
“Students have the right to go to class feeling safe,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, spokeswoman for the US presidency, adding that we will “continue to emphasize that anti-Semitism must be reported.”
During a campaign event in Wisconsin, former President Donald Trump yesterday described the intervention in Columbia as a “beautiful sight”, as according to him “New York was under siege last night” by “raging madmen and Hamas supporters” and President Joe Biden “needs to speak,” as he pointed out in an indignant tone.
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#boiling #protests #universities
