On April 18, New York City police officers arrested 108 demonstrators at Columbia University in Manhattan after administrators set a Friday midnight deadline for protesters to dismantle their encampment and disband. Similar protests occurred at various universities across the country. At Emory University in Atlanta, protesters were ordered to leave by campus police, who then called in local law enforcement. The protesters accused the police of using pepper spray or tear gas, while university officials emphasized that disruptive behavior would not be tolerated. At the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, 93 students were arrested after setting up an encampment, and a similar situation unfolded at Emerson College in Boston, where 108 students were arrested by Boston police.
Students at the University of Texas at Austin also faced police arrests after refusing to disperse during a protest. At Princeton University in New Jersey, two graduate students were arrested for refusing to clear the area after repeated warnings from university officials. Protests escalated at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, leading to violent clashes with police and three arrests. At the University of Minnesota in Twin Cities, an encampment was put up and cleared by police, only to reappear the next day. At Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, students set up an encampment in response to the suspension of a pro-Palestinian group. Similar demonstrations occurred at schools like Yale, Brown, and Cornell, where students faced disciplinary actions as their encampments violated university policies.
The wave of protests also reached the West Coast, with encampments being set up at institutions like UCLA and the University of California, Berkeley. At the University of Rochester in New York, students established an encampment, while Tufts University in Massachusetts saw a dozen tents set up in an academic quad. Students at the University of Delaware in Newark gathered in an encampment to protest events in Gaza. The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor also experienced a student-led encampment. Nationwide, students at various universities rallied for divestment from companies associated with the Israeli government, leading to protests at schools like the University of Florida, the University of Maryland, and American University.
Many protests were organized by Students for Justice in Palestine chapters, prompting marches, sit-ins, and encampments at schools like Rice University in Texas, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Texas at Dallas. These protests sought to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and call for divestment from companies with ties to the war. Demonstrations were also seen at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the University of Northern Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Rice University in Houston, showcasing a widespread student movement advocating for Palestinian rights across the United States. Ultimately, the protests and encampments highlighted a growing demand for justice and solidarity with Palestine within American universities.
