The student protests against the war in Gaza have spread throughout the United States during the weekend, a situation that has caused the authorities to make arrests and clashes against protesters to maintain order.
These manifestations They began at Columbia University, located in New York, and spread to dozens of states, including Georgia, Indiana, California and Texasplaces that have in common the rejection of US policy towards Israel and the request that educational centers break relations with the Israeli government and private sector.
This situation has incited students to set up protest camps in university facilities and this generates tensions in educational institutions, since many They consider that this protest model violates their policies so they have ordered the evictions.
The afternoon of last Saturday, April 27, more than 200 students were arrested by attempting to evict Northeastern universities in Boston, Arizona Stare in Arizona, Indiana University in Bloomington and Washington University in Saint Louis.
Even in Missouri, the presidential candidate for the independent Green Party, Jill Stein, was arrested by the authorities during an eviction in which 80 people were detained, the university reported in a statement.
Given this situation, the university plans to file charges of “trespassing” against all those detained in Saint Louis and some “may even be accused of resisting arrest and assault” on police officers, according to the statement.
While In Boston, police arrested more than a hundred people after vacating a student camp that had been established since last Thursday, April 25.
The Massachusetts State Police announced that they will file charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct against those arrested. Meanwhile, the university said it will “take disciplinary action” against some of the students.
In Arizonathe arrests took place at the end of the night on Friday, April 26, when Police entered a camp and arrested more than 70 people. The university accused the protesters of trespassing on private property and noted that most “were not part of the student body or faculty.”
Indiana University ordered the evacuation of an encampment Saturday afternoon, prompting state police arrested more than 20 people They also face charges of trespassing and resisting arrest.
The White House has not commented on the protests this weekend. But last Monday, April 22, President Joe Biden condemned what he called “anti-Semitic demonstrations” at universities and rejected “those who do not understand what is happening in Palestine.”
Most Americans are in disagreement with the handling that the Democratic government is giving to the war in Gaza: according to a survey also published this Sunday by cnn71 percent of citizens disapprove of the president's policy in this conflict.
This figure is even higher among young voters, with 81 percent of respondents under the age of 35 opposing Biden's actions.