College protests updates: Police arrest dozens at Art Institute of Chicago

Protests have broken out at colleges and universities across the country in connection with the war in Gaza.

Many pro-Palestinian protesters are calling for their colleges to divest of funds from Israeli military operations, while some Jewish students on the campuses have called the protests antisemitic and said they are scared for their safety.

The student protests — some of which have turned into around-the-clock encampments — have erupted throughout the nation following arrests and student removals at Columbia University in New York City. Students at schools including Yale University, New York University, Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Southern California and more have launched protests.

Latest Developments

May 4, 9:25 PM

Dozens of protesters arrested at Art Institute of Chicago

Approximately 50 people were arrested, including some students, at School of the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturday, according to a spokesperson from the university.

“Today, a group of individuals, including some SAIC students, began a protest in the museum’s North Garden, and as it progressed, protesters surrounded and shoved a security officer and stole their keys to the museum, blocked emergency exits, and barricaded gates,” the statement read.

Protesters were offered an alternative location to continue the protest on campus, but they did not accept that offer, according to the university.

“During multiple rounds of negotiations, SAIC student protesters were promised amnesty from academic sanction and trespassing charges if they agreed to relocate. The School also agreed to meet with a student group to discuss their demands. After approximately five hours, an agreement could not be reached.”

Chicago Police Department assisted with ending the protests and arresting individuals, the university said.

 May 4, 7:17 PM

University of Virginia president calls removal of protesters ‘upsetting, frightening and sad’

The president of the University of Virginia, Jim Ryan, released a statement Saturday on the removal of protesters from the encampment on campus.

Ryan said that up until Friday, the demonstrations on campus had remained peaceful and “complied with requests to adhere to University policies including a long-standing prohibition on erecting tents absent a permit.”

However, Ryan said protesters were given a “final warning” on Saturday morning that “was ignored” and the university’s police department officers “were met with physical confrontation and attempted assault.”

Virginia State Police were called to clear the encampment after it was deemed an “unlawful” assembly, according to the president.

“I recognize and respect that some will disagree with our decisions,” Ryan said in the statement. “This entire episode was upsetting, frightening and sad.”

 May 4, 3:15 PM

Police appear to prepare to empty University of Virginia encampment

The University of Virginia alerted students to avoid the chapel area of the school’s Charlottesville campus — where protesters have set up an encampment — for police activity.

Around 40 police officers from multiple police agencies are on campus to potentially clear pro-Palestinian protesters, according to the student paper, the Cavalier Daily.

Albemarle County Police and Virginia State Police arrived with riot gear to support Charlottesville Police and University Police, according to an affiliate reporter.

 May 3, 10:15 PM

UCLA classes to resume on Monday

The University of California Los Angeles announced classes are “expected to resume in full on Monday,” in an update Friday evening.

“Campus operations will be limited through the weekend, and are expected to resume in full on Monday. Classes continue remote through the weekend. Work, events and research activities are encouraged to remain remote or be rescheduled wherever possible during that period,” UCLA said in a statement.

A law enforcement presence will continue “to be stationed around campus to help promote safety,” the university said.

 May 3, 6:09 PM

NYU president explains use of NYPD to end encampment

Linda G. Mills, the president of NYU, posted a statement Friday evening explaining why the school called in the NYPD to break up an encampment on the Greene St. Walkway earlier in the day.

Mills said 14 people who refused orders to leave the area were arrested and the incident was non-violent.

The president said that the police were called in for numerous reasons, including noise complaints from nearby residents and businesses, safety concerns over the crowds of supporters and counter-protesters and escalating threats.

“The encampment had become increasingly untenable for the NYU community and the neighborhood we inhabit,” she said.

Mills said three senior administrators spoke with the protesters over the weekend to come to an agreement over shutting down the encampment.

After police cleared an encampment of protesters at NYU earlier in the day, several hundred students and other protesters returned to the campus to hold a rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza, on May 3, 2024, in New York.

The president said things escalated on Wednesday when a group of people from a May Day march came to the walkway and got into altercations.

The May Day incident and other issues, including threats leveled at NYU administrators, led the school to call the NYPD, according to Mills.

“The university’s senior leadership and I were compelled to conclude that we could not tolerate the risk of violence any longer and that we could not responsibly or in good conscience wait until something drastically worse were to happen in order to act. We needed to bring this to a close,” she said.

 May 3, 2:44 PM

University of Mississippi protest confrontation draws scrutiny

Footage from the University of Mississippi campus captures intense confrontations between pro-Palestinian protesters and counter-protesters.

The dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on the campus to call for divestment from military operations in Gaza and for the university to condemn what they call “genocide.”

Footage shows a much larger counter-protest surrounding the students, with many donning American flags.

Protesters reported being subject to racism and violent threats and having food thrown at them by counter-protesters.

In one video, a Black protester can be seen recording and speaking to counter-protesters, moving past the protective barricades around pro-Palestinian protesters.

Law enforcement officers can be seen urging her to walk back as counter-demonstrators taunt her, including on student making a monkey impersonation and others chanting “lock her up,” according to the Stacey Spiehler, who took the video.

Law enforcement also urged counter-protesters to stand back.

Jacob Batte, Ole Miss’ director of news and media relations, told ABC News they “cannot comment specifically about that video,” but that “statements were made at the demonstration on our campus Thursday that were offensive and inappropriate.”

The university said it is looking into reports about specific actions and “any actions that violate university policy will be met with appropriate action.”

In a statement following the confrontations, protesters said they were met with “blind reactionism that had little to do with the genocide we were protesting as well as our demands.”

-ABC News’ Chris Looft and Kiara Alfonseca

  May 3, 12:54 PM

NYPD sergeant accidentally discharged gun during Columbia building operation

An officer accidentally discharged his gun as the New York Police Department worked to clear Hamilton Hall — a building that had been occupied by Columbia University students on April 30, Assistant Chief Carlos Valdez, the commanding officer of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit, said Friday.

During the operation, a sergeant unintentionally discharged his firearm while attempting to gain access to an office.

“The sergeant was transitioning his firearm to his non-dominant hand to unlock the office door from the inside when the discharge occurred,” Valdez said.

There were no injuries and the bullet was contained within the vacant office. Valdes said that at no point were police officers, members of the public or protesters in danger.

“This was purely unintentional,” he said.

 May 3, 12:03 PM

New York University, New School explain decision to remove, arrest students

New York University and New School, in separate statements, said they requested police move students from their campuses after multiple rounds of negotiations failed.

NYU said the “encampment had become increasingly untenable for the NYU community and the neighborhood we inhabit.” Classes will proceed as normal today.

People work near police officers, where students and pro-Palestinian supporters were removed after days of encampment, outside of New York University campus, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in New York City, May 3, 2024.

NYU said it is aware of calls for a 4 p.m. protest at the former site of the encampment.

The New School, which switched to remote learning Friday, said students continued to set up in the lobby of the University Center building and block access to the “residence hall, classrooms, library, and cafeteria.”

Despite the university “pleading to allow their fellow students to enter their residence hall, the protesters would not budge.”

Police officers stand guard outside of The New School after clearing out the student encampment erected in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in New York City, May 3, 2024.

The New School said the protests continued even after they “provided a confirmed date this month for the Investment Committee to consider a vote on disinvestment.”

“It is a sad day for all of us who are part of this university community and who believe in free speech, which we have pledged to protect and will continue to protect,” The New School said in a statement.

 May 3, 12:04 PM

56 people arrested at New School, NYU

Fifty-six people have been arrested at The New School and New York University after the schools authorized police to clear encampments, according to the New York Police Department.

Forty-three people were arrested at The New School and 13 people where arrested at NYU, the NYPD said.

-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky

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