The Columbia campus was cleared of tents and occupiers last night, with as many as 300 people arrested between Columbia and CUNY where police also cleared the campus. Activists at Columbia posted this sad image of the empty campus this morning.
The caption with this reads:
as of this morning, all our tents have been removed by columbia. our hearts ache thinking of the community we built in the last two weeks on our encampment, the national movement that was sparked. the struggle for palestinian liberation will continue, the student intifada will live on, and we will hold the gaza solidarity encampment deep in our hearts forever.
Will the “student intifada” live on? That’s an open question but it’s worth noting that police were busy clearing tent camps and arresting rowdy students at a lot of different schools within the last 24 hours. It’s almost hard to keep track of all of them. Here’s what happened this morning at the University of Wisconsin. Police with riot shields broke through a line of students and confiscated tents they had set up on campus.
BREAKING: Police breach camp @UWMadison pic.twitter.com/YIKWEmo5ca
— Tyler Katzenberger (@TylerKatzen) May 1, 2024
There was some shoving:
More pushing, arrests here at UW-Madison: pic.twitter.com/Ifs7K4gLq8
— Tyler Katzenberger (@TylerKatzen) May 1, 2024
This is what they call “mostly peaceful.”
Pushing between protesters and police growing more intense. pic.twitter.com/Tk0hX6tnC3
— Liam Beran (@LiamPBeran) May 1, 2024
The students denounced their own administrators.
BREAKING: Police breach camp @UWMadison pic.twitter.com/YIKWEmo5ca
— Tyler Katzenberger (@TylerKatzen) May 1, 2024
But the tent camp was taken away in a police.
Police are taking tents to a trailer pic.twitter.com/RXUXwEbkwi
— Becky Jacobs (@ruthyjacobs) May 1, 2024
Police arrested about 10 people as well. Moving on to the University of South Florida, students were geared up to hold their ground with umbrellas and wooden shields.
A Jewish man in yarmulke, tallit and blowing a shofar has handed encampment shields & umbrellas. He appears to be one the organizers. They have illegally set up tent at MLK Square on USF Campus in Tampa, FL pic.twitter.com/qAqWtgyKbS
— John Gregg 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@jewadjacent) April 30, 2024
Police started arriving on campus in numbers.
More cops keep showing up at USF.
Say what you want about DeSantis, but he puts up with no bullshit when it comes to defending his state and people.
I hope they FAFO. pic.twitter.com/VgLm9Mvq33— Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 (@saras76) April 30, 2024
Protesters were warned to clear the area or face arrest. They decided to form a defensive line instead.
Law enforcement just asked the crowd to disperse. They told us as the media to live back. Law enforcement said if people don’t leave they could be arrested. @BN9 pic.twitter.com/cyMvmsC1hv
— Erin Murray Bay News 9 (@emurray1) April 30, 2024
Police launched some teargas and the protesters dropped their shields and ran for it.
The University Of South Florida has been turned into a spicy campground… 🔥🌶️#spicy #USF #Protesters #israel #gaza #palestine #madrasa #CityLife #tampa #florida #gas pic.twitter.com/iFdTTp2e82
— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) April 30, 2024
Ten people were arrested, one of whom had a handgun. And moving on the the University of Connecticut, police made about 25 arrests there yesterday and cleared out another camp.
Once the arrests were made, the tents came down.
With the arrests now over, UCONN police are breaking down the encampment. #WFSB pic.twitter.com/6h02rbqg26
— Matt McFarland (@MattMcFarland3) April 30, 2024
There are more examples, but it’s clear that we’ve turned a corner on dealing with the tent camps and bringing in police.