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.
May 04, 2024, 7:17 PM EDT

University of Virginia president calls removal of protesters 'upsetting, frightening and sad'

The president of the University of Virginia, Jim Ryan, released a statement Saturday on the removal of protesters from the encampment on campus.

Ryan said that up until Friday, the demonstrations on campus had remained peaceful and "complied with requests to adhere to University policies including a long-standing prohibition on erecting tents absent a permit."

However, Ryan said protesters were given a "final warning" on Saturday morning that "was ignored" and the university’s police department officers "were met with physical confrontation and attempted assault."

Virginia State Police were called to clear the encampment after it was deemed an "unlawful" assembly, according to the president.

"I recognize and respect that some will disagree with our decisions,” Ryan said in the statement. “This entire episode was upsetting, frightening and sad."

May 04, 2024, 3:15 PM EDT

Police appear to prepare to empty University of Virginia encampment

The University of Virginia alerted students to avoid the chapel area of the school's Charlottesville campus -- where protesters have set up an encampment -- for police activity.

Around 40 police officers from multiple police agencies are on campus to potentially clear pro-Palestinian protesters, according to the student paper, the Cavalier Daily.

Albemarle County Police and Virginia State Police arrived with riot gear to support Charlottesville Police and University Police, according to an affiliate reporter.

May 03, 2024, 10:15 PM EDT

UCLA classes to resume on Monday

The University of California Los Angeles announced classes are "expected to resume in full on Monday," in an update Friday evening.

"Campus operations will be limited through the weekend, and are expected to resume in full on Monday. Classes continue remote through the weekend. Work, events and research activities are encouraged to remain remote or be rescheduled wherever possible during that period," UCLA said in a statement.

A law enforcement presence will continue "to be stationed around campus to help promote safety," the university said.

May 03, 2024, 6:09 PM EDT

NYU president explains use of NYPD to end encampment

Linda G. Mills, the president of NYU, posted a statement Friday evening explaining why the school called in the NYPD to break up an encampment on the Greene St. Walkway earlier in the day.

Mills said 14 people who refused orders to leave the area were arrested and the incident was non-violent.

The president said that the police were called in for numerous reasons, including noise complaints from nearby residents and businesses, safety concerns over the crowds of supporters and counter-protesters and escalating threats.

"The encampment had become increasingly untenable for the NYU community and the neighborhood we inhabit," she said.

Mills said three senior administrators spoke with the protesters over the weekend to come to an agreement over shutting down the encampment.

After police cleared an encampment of protesters at NYU earlier in the day, several hundred students and other protesters returned to the campus to hold a rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza, on May 3, 2024, in New York.
Seth Harrison/Westchester County Journal News via USA Today Network

The president said things escalated on Wednesday when a group of people from a May Day march came to the walkway and got into altercations.

The May Day incident and other issues, including threats leveled at NYU administrators, led the school to call the NYPD, according to Mills.

"The university’s senior leadership and I were compelled to conclude that we could not tolerate the risk of violence any longer and that we could not responsibly or in good conscience wait until something drastically worse were to happen in order to act. We needed to bring this to a close," she said.