Nearly 2,500 non-violent protesters arrested at colleges and universities across US
HOUSTON, US (AA) – Nearly 2,500 non-violent students staging demonstrations for a free Palestine have been arrested at US campuses, according to media outlets.
In a report released Sunday by CNN, the number of arrests made since April 18 has surpassed 2,200, while the numbers released in a similar report by Fox News show the total of arrests to be more than 2,400.
Demonstrations are expected to continue over the coming weeks as graduation ceremonies take place, and campus officials are adding extra police security, or in some cases, cancelling commencement ceremonies altogether.
In the state of California, police in Los Angeles cleared out a Free Palestine Movement demonstration at the University of Southern California (USC) on Sunday, but no arrests were made. In addition, USC has called off its main graduation ceremony due to security concerns.
Free Palestine Movement supporters clashed with counter-protesters on Sunday at Chicago’s DePaul University in the state of Illinois. Police did not make any arrests, but there were reports of several people getting injured as the situation transpired.
In the state of Virginia, 25 supporters of the movement were arrested at a rally at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Saturday. Police cleared out a non-violent protest by students after declaring an unlawful assembly near the center of campus.
Also on Saturday, in the state of Michigan, police removed a group of Free Palestine Movement supporters at the University of Michigan’s main commencement in Ann Arbor which briefly interrupted the ceremony, but no arrests were made.
April 30 saw the largest number of arrests in a single day, with more than 400 made at college campuses. The majority of those arrests (282) happened at Columbia University in the state of New York, which is considered to be the highest profile university which started the Free Palestine Movement rallies on campus.
The second biggest arrest total happened on May 2, with more than 250 protesters getting arrested nationwide. Most of those arrests (210) were made at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
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