Pro-Palestinian Protests: 2,200 arrested on college campuses across the US
Police have arrested nearly 2,200 people during pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the United States in recent weeks, sometimes using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings.
One officer accidentally discharged his gun inside a Columbia University administration building while clearing out protesters camped inside, authorities said.
No one was injured by the officer's mistake late Tuesday inside Hamilton Hall on the Columbia campus, the NYPD said on Thursday.
In the pre-dawn hours on Thursday, helmeted police swarmed a tent city set up at the University of California in Los Angeles, using flash bangs and riot gear to push through lines of protesters who linked arms in a futile attempt to halt their advance.
Los Angeles police said on social media that 210 people were arrested at UCLA, and hundreds of arrests were made at other universities overnight and on Thursday, reports Reuters.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people protesting Israel's offensive in Gaza rallied at one of Australia's top universities yesterday demanding it divest from companies with ties to Israel, in a movement inspired by the student occupations sweeping US campuses.
Pro-Palestinian activists set up an encampment last week outside the sandstone main hall at University of Sydney, one of Australia's largest tertiary institutions.
Similar camps have sprung up at universities in Melbourne, Canberra and other Australian cities.
Unlike in the US, where police have forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges, protest sites in Australia have been peaceful with scant police presence.
Yesterday, protesters rallied to demand University of Sydney divest from companies with ties to Israel, echoing calls from students in the US, Canada and France.
In Canada, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said on Thursday the encampment at Montreal's McGill University should be dismantled as more students erected pro-Palestinian camps across some of Canada's largest universities, demanding they divest from groups with ties to Israel.
Students also set up encampments at Canadian schools including the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa.
"We want the camp to be dismantled. We trust the police, let them do their job," a spokesperson for Legault said.
There was also a pro-Israel counter-protest in Montreal Thursday. The two sides were kept separate.
In France, police entered Paris' Sciences Po university yesterday to remove dozens of students staging a pro-Gaza sit-in in the entrance hall.
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