Riot police arrest students at US campuses as protests over Israel-Gaza war continue to grow

Riot police have arrested dozens of students as protests over the Israel-Gaza war spread across US universities.

On Wednesday, demonstrations on the campuses of at least two universities involved clashes with police, while another university shut down its campus for the rest of the week.The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel's military efforts in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself.

Last week pro-Palestinian student protesters set up a tent encampment at the Ivy League Columbia University in New York.

When police first tried to clear the encampment on Thursday, when they arrested more than 100 protesters. But the move backfired, acting as an inspiration for other students across the country and motivating protesters at Columbia to regroup.University officials said early Wednesday that they were extending a deadline for protesters to clear out. They said the demonstrators had committed to removing a significant number of tents and agreed that only students would remain at the encampment.

They also said they would make the encampment more welcoming by banning any discriminatory language or harassing messages. The encampment on the upper Manhattan campus appeared calm and a little smaller on Wednesday morning.US House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Columbia on Wednesday to meet with Jewish students over concerns about anti-Semitism on college campuses.

Mr Johnson said Israeli and Jewish students on campus will not stand alone. Protesters nearby said they couldn't hear him and he responded: "Enjoy your free speech."

Meanwhile, at the University of Texas in Austin, dozens of police officers and state troopers, including some on horseback and holding batons, forcefully arrested more than two dozen students protesters and a local news photographer on Wednesday.

Protesters said they had planned a walkout and march to the main campus lawn, where students would occupy the space and host events throughout the afternoon. But the university said in a statement that it would "not tolerate disruptions" like those at other campuses.As of Wednesday night, 34 people had been arrested related to the protest, according to a post on the social platform X by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Agency spokesperson Sheridan Nolen said troopers had responded at the request of university officials and Governor Greg Abbott.Abbott said on X that the protesters belong in jail, and that any student who joins what he called hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in the state should be expelled.A photographer covering the demonstration for local Fox affiliate, Fox 7 Austin, was among those arrested after being caught in a push-and-pull between law enforcement and students. The station confirmed the arrest in its online story. Another journalist was knocked down in the mayhem and was seen bleeding before police helped him to emergency medical staff, who bandaged his head.

In a statement, University President Jay Hartzell said that peaceful protests within the university's rules are acceptable but that breaking the rules and disrupting others' ability to learn are not allowed."Our rules matter, and they will be enforced," his statement said. "Our University will not be occupied."

Similarly, Los Angeles police began arresting protesters Wednesday evening at the University of Southern California in an effort to clear the center of the university's main campus. The university posted on X that it had closed campus and that police would arrest people who did not leave.Earlier in the day police removed several tents, then got into a back-and-forth tent tugging match with protesters before falling back. At one point, USC police detained a man and put him in a vehicle. A crowd surrounded the car and chanted "Let him go!" and the officers eventually did so. The man waved at demonstrators to indicate they should return to the park.

Police have also clashed with protesters at Ohio State University, California State Polytechnic University, Emerson College, New York University, the University of Minnesota and Yale.

Officials at California State Polytechnic University said the campus would be closed through the weekend and lessons would continue to be remote.

This came after students at the university used furniture, tents, chains and zip ties to block entrances to an academic and administrative building on Monday.

Protesters chanted "we are not afraid of you" before officers in riot gear pushed into them at the building's entrance, video shows.

Harvard tried to stay ahead of protests by locking most gates into its famous Harvard Yard ahead of classes Monday and limited access to those with school identification.

The school also posted signs warning against setting up tents or tables on campus without permission. Those efforts didn't stop protesters from setting up a camp with 14 tents Wednesday, which came after a rally against the university's suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.