Texas state troopers try to break up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas in Austin on Wednesday, April 24.
U.S.
Updated 4:51 PM EDT, Thu April 25, 2024
College campuses across the United States have erupted in recent days with pro-Palestinian protests.
Several schools have called the police on protesters, leading to the arrests of hundreds across multiple campuses.
Tensions on many campuses have risen since Hamas' October 7 attack, when militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages. Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza has killedmore than 34,000 people, according to Gaza's health ministry. CNN cannot independently confirm the numbers due to the lack of international media access to Gaza.
Protesters at New York's Columbia University, the epicenter of demonstrations that began last week, have said they won't disperse until the school agrees to cut ties with Israeli universities and commits to divesting funds from Israel-linked entities, among other demands.
Pro-Palestinian encampments have also been set up at other schools, including theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Emerson College, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley. On Wednesday, policearrested nearly 100 protestersat the University of Southern California after a dispersal order.
As some Jewish students say they are concerned for their safety on campus, college administrators are facing increasing pressure from lawmakers to rein in protests.
Georgia State Patrol officers detain a demonstrator on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Atlanta on Thursday, April 25.
An activist leads chants during a pro-Palestinian protest April 24 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Students at the University of Texas at Austin watch a protest from a classroom window on April 24.
Students are arrested during the protest in Austin on April 24. There were dozens of arrests. University police had warned students in an email that they faced more arrests if they didn't disperse from the site.
Protesters link arms at Emerson College in Boston on April 24.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to the media on the campus of Columbia University after meeting with Jewish students on April 24. He called on the school's president to resign during a tense news conference where the crowd repeatedly interrupted him and at times loudly booed him and other Republican lawmakers who were with him.
Demonstrators' tents are set up on Columbia's campus in New York on April 24. The school is also preparing for graduation ceremonies.
Demonstrators work on a banner April 24 at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
Protesters demonstrate at the University of Texas in Austin on April 24.
Demonstrators and Texas state troopers face one another in Austin on April 24.
Police stand near protesters at the University of Southern California on April 24.
New York police officers stand near protesters outside the main entrance of Columbia University on April 24.
Columbia students prepare to camp overnight on Tuesday, April 23.
A group of Jewish and non-Jewish students gather at the Columbia encampment to celebrate Seder, a ritual feast at the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Columbia student Cameron Jones told CNN: "I am Jewish and, to me, Passover symbolizes perseverance and resilience. I think this encampment represents those two ideals because we have seen the university take countless measures to try to suppress our student activism, and here is us persevering through that."
A makeshift memorial at Columbia, seen on April 23, pays tribute to Jewish hostages taken by Hamas in October.
Students protest near New York University on April 23.
Students at the University of California, Berkeley, set up an encampment at Sproul Hall on April 23.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators sit at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, on April 23. University police arrested at least 45 protesters the day before and charged them with criminal trespassing after they refused orders to leave.
Police and protesters face off at New York University on Monday, April 22.
Police officers clear away tents from an encampment at New York University on April 22.
People watch from a window as New York University students set up a tent encampment on April 22.
Students and pro-Palestinian supporters rally at The New School in New York on April 22.
Students rally at an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge on April 22.
A pro-Palestinian protest is held at the steps of Columbia's Lowe Library on April 22.
Some Columbia professors rally in support of their protesting students on April 22.
Israeli flags are reflected in the sunglasses of a demonstrator in front of Columbia University on April 22.
Student activists set up camp at a New School cafeteria on Sunday, April 21.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside a Columbia building on Saturday, April 20.
Police officers stand near barriers as pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside of Columbia on April 18.
