College protests updates: Police begin dismantling University of Chicago encampment

Police entered the campus encampment early Tuesday, WLS reported.

ByNadine El-Bawab, Bill Hutchinson, and Julia Reinstein
Last Updated: May 7, 2024, 2:01 PM EDT

Protests have broken out at colleges and universities across the country in connection with the war in Gaza.

Many pro-Palestinian protesters are calling for their colleges to divest of funds from Israeli military operations, while some Jewish students on the campuses have called the protests antisemitic and said they are scared for their safety.

The student protests -- some of which have turned into around-the-clock encampments -- have erupted throughout the nation following arrests and student removals at Columbia University in New York City. Students at schools including Yale University, New York University, Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Southern California and more have launched protests.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Apr 30, 2024, 11:12 AM EDT

UConn removes encampment, makes arrests after protesters refuse to leave

The University of Connecticut cleared an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters early Tuesday after they refused orders to disperse. UConn has not yet revealed the number of arrests and charges.

UConn said that protests were permitted but setting up tents violated university guidelines.

"The group was warned multiple times over a period of days that while they were free to be in the space and exercise their free speech rights, the guidelines needed to be followed and the tents needed to be taken down. This was ignored," UConn said in a statement.

"UConn Police directed them four times on Tuesday morning to remove the tents and disperse, and they again repeatedly ignored the directives. Officers then entered the site to remove the tents and tarps, and to arrest those who refused compliance," UConn said in a statement.

-ABC News' Mark Osborne

Apr 30, 2024, 10:07 AM EDT

Reporter detained while covering protest on Cal Poly campus

Adelmi Ruiz, a reporter for Redding, California, ABC affiliate KRCR, was detained at Cal Poly Humboldt while filming police approaching an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters.

A livestream showed Ruiz filming police in riot gear approaching protesters, who could be heard chanting, when an officer asks her to come over and tells her they need her out of the way.

An officer then tells Ruiz to put her phone away and put her hands behind her back because he is going to put her in flex cuffs -- plastic handcuffs used by police for protesters. Ruiz identifies herself as a reporter multiple times but is still arrested.

"You had an opportunity to leave. You were told multiple times to leave otherwise you were gonna be arrested," the officer says, according to a livestream which continued after Ruiz placed her phone in her pocket.

She responded that she was on assignment covering the protest.

"Find a different job if this causes you to break the law," the officer says.

As she is escorted away, Ruiz can be heard asking for help.

The Humboldt County sheriff has confirmed Ruiz will not face any charges.

Apr 30, 2024, 9:42 AM EDT

17 protesters arrested at University of Utah, encampment cleared

The University of Utah has removed an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters and arrested 17 people after the university said protesters do not have a right to set up encampments on campus property and threatened to disperse them.

About a dozen tents, stashes of water, food and toilet paper were removed from the encampment.

The university had issued warnings to students, staff and faculty members telling them to remove their encampments, or face consequences, including arrests.

The university had threatened criminal trespass and disorderly conduct charges, termination for faculty and staff and discipline for students ranging from probation to suspension against those who refused to leave the encampment.

Apr 30, 2024, 4:06 AM EDT

Columbia protesters occupy campus hall

Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University occupied a hall on campus early Tuesday, hours after school officials ordered the dispersal of a protest encampment.

Videos viewed by ABC News appeared to show protesters creating a barricade with metal chairs outside Hamilton Hall after midnight.

People and protesters look on as protesters barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York City, April 30, 2024.
Caitlin Ochs/Reuters

PHOTO: Protesters hang banners on the exterior of Hamilton Hall building after barricading themselves inside the building at Columbia University in New York City, April 30, 2024.
Protesters hang banners on the exterior of Hamilton Hall building after barricading themselves inside the building at Columbia University, after an earlier order from university officials to disband the protest encampment supporting Palestinians, or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, U.S., April 30, 2024.
Caitlin Ochs/Reuters

Several were seen in the videos unrolling protest posters from one of the building's balconies.

It was unclear how many demonstrators had occupied the hall, which is on Amsterdam Avenue. The Columbia Spectator, a campus newspaper, reported the people who were inside were working to block the building's exits with tables, chairs and zip-ties.

-ABC News’ Jessica Gorman, Felicia Alvarez and Kevin Shalvey