Police made dozens of arrests as pro-Palestinian protest encampments were dismantled Friday at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hours after police tear-gassed demonstrators and took down a similar camp at the University of Arizona.
Police made dozens of arrests as pro-Palestinian protest encampments were dismantled Friday at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hours after police tear-gassed demonstrators and took down a similar camp at the University of Arizona.
Philadelphia and campus police moved in around daybreak at Penn to remove protesters from an encampment that had been in place for more than two weeks. School officials said protesters were given warnings and the chance to leave without being detained. About 33 people, including students and faculty members, were among those arrested and charged with trespass, the school said.
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, police in riot gear arrived at MIT around 4 a.m., encircled the camp and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. Ten students who remained were arrested, the university’s president said. A crowd outside the camp began chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but was dispersed shortly after.
At the University of Arizona in Tucson, campus police in riot gear fired tear gas late Thursday — the day before the school’s main commencement ceremony — at protesters before tearing down an encampment that included wood and plastic barriers. The school said that police vehicles were spiked, and that rocks and water bottles were thrown at officers and university staff.
