Police arrested at least 25 pro-Palestine protesters on Saturday (4) and emptied a camp at the University of Virginia (UVA), the institution said in a statement.
Several US campuses are bracing for more turmoil during graduation celebrations.
Tensions rose on UVA's Charlottesville campus, where protests were largely peaceful until Saturday morning, when police in riot gear were seen on video moving into a camp on the campus lawn, handcuffing some protesters with zip ties. and using what appeared to be chemical spray.
Students from across the US gathered or set up tents at dozens of universities to protest the war in Gaza and call on President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel, to do more to stop the bloodshed in the Palestinian enclave.
University students also demand that their institutions stop investing in companies that support the Israeli government, such as weapons suppliers.
The University of Virginia said in a news release that protesters violated several university policies, including erecting tents Friday night and using amplified sound.
Jim Ryan, president of UVA, wrote in a message that authorities learned that “individuals not affiliated with the university” who had “some safety concerns” had joined protesters on campus.
It was not immediately clear how many of those arrested were UVA students.
A group called UVA Encampment for Gaza, which said earlier this week it had set up the camp, condemned the university's decision to call police in an Instagram post.
Dozens of people were arrested for criminal trespassing in front of the Art Institute of Chicago at a demonstration Saturday after the institute called police to remove protesters who it said were illegally occupying its property, the Chicago Police Department said on X .
Elsewhere, clashes did not escalate into arrests. In Ann Arbor, pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted a graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan (UM).
Videos shared on social media showed dozens of students wearing traditional keffiyeh headdresses and graduation caps and waving Palestinian flags as they walked down the center aisle of Michigan Stadium amid applause and boos from a crowd of thousands.
The ceremony continued and campus police escorted protesters to the back of the stadium, but no arrests were made, according to Colleen Mastony, a university spokeswoman.
“Peaceful protests like this have occurred at UM graduation ceremonies for decades,” Mastony said in a statement. “The university supports free speech and university leaders are pleased that today’s graduation was a moment of pride and triumph.”
Contrasting views about Israel's war in Gaza have emerged, sometimes violently, on U.S. campuses in recent weeks.
Many of the schools, including Columbia University in New York City, called on the police to quell the protests.
So far, police have arrested more than 2,000 protesters at colleges across the country.
The University of Michigan is one of many universities that have altered their safety protocols for graduation ceremonies.
The anti-war protests were held in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza, launched after a Hamas attack on October 7 that Israel said killed 1,200 people.
Israel killed more than 34,000 people in retaliation, according to Gaza health authorities, and razed the Palestinian territory.
Outrage at Ole Miss
The campus protests have emerged as a new political flashpoint during a turbulent US election year.
On Thursday, a pro-Palestine protest at the University of Mississippi was met by a larger crowd of counter-protesters singing the national anthem and carrying American flags.
Events at Ole Miss, the state's flagship university, sparked widespread outrage and condemnation after a viral video showed a group of mostly white students insulting a black protester.
Some shouting of racist comments and an individual making what appeared to be monkey sounds can be heard in the video.
While the university president condemned the “racist overtones” of the incident and said an investigation was underway, Georgia’s Republican U.S. Representative Mike Collins shared the video to his X account on Friday, writing “Ole Miss is taking care of business.”
A spokesperson for Collins said he was pointing out examples of “ordinary, everyday students resisting the small group of leftist agitators who only care about disrupting and destroying.”
Another Republican, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, said Saturday that he was sending meals from Chick-fil-A, a popular U.S. fast food chain, to counterprotesters who “protected our flag and defended America” in campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earlier this week.
“The actions of these young people make me hopeful for the next generation’s love for our country,” Graham’s post read.
Source: CNN Brasil
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