College protests updates: Police crackdown leads to hundreds of arrests

Hundreds were arrested at USC, Emerson and UT Austin in the last day.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: April 28, 2024, 10:09 AM 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 26, 2024, 2:37 PM EDT

Columbia University negotiator says 5 p.m. not a hard deadline

The lead student negotiator with a Columbia University student group organizing the encampment says there is no longer a "deadline" for them to leave, but more of a "timeline."

People take part in a demonstration in support of Israel outside the Columbia University campus in New York City, Apr. 26, 2024.
Mike Segar/Reuters
A man wearing an Israeli flag climbs a flagpole to tear off a Palestinian flag following demonstration in support of Israel at the Columbia University campus in New York City, Apr. 26, 2024.
Mike Segar/Reuters

The group -- Columbia University Apartheid Divest group -- says negotiations with the university remain ongoing and another decision will be made at 5 p.m.

"We have until 5 p.m. to come up with a plan," the Columbia student negotiator said.

-ABC News' Stephanie Ramos

Apr 26, 2024, 1:53 PM EDT

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visits Columbia University protesters

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., visited student protesters at Columbia University Friday.

Hundreds of counterprotesters also gathered near Columbia's campus on Friday morning waving Israeli flags and calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Ocasio-Cortez has criticized the university's decision to arrest students.

"Not only did Columbia make the horrific decision to mobilize NYPD on their own students, but the units called in have some of the most violent reputations on the force. NYPD had promised the city they wouldn’t deploy SRG to protests. So why are these counterterror units here?" Ocasio-Cortez said on X Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., departs the Columbia University campus after visiting a student protest encampment in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in New York City, April 26, 2024.
Mike Segar/Reuters

In another post, she called the arrests a "dangerous" act.

"Calling in police enforcement on nonviolent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalatory, reckless, and dangerous act. It represents a heinous failure of leadership that puts people’s lives at risk. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms," Ocasio-Cortez said on X.

Apr 26, 2024, 9:07 AM EDT

Students arrested, charged with trespass at Ohio State University

Students were arrested and charged with trespass at Ohio State University after refusing to leave a pro-Palestinian encampment late Thursday.

"Well established university rules prohibit camping and overnight events. Demonstrators exercised their first amendment rights for several hours and were then instructed to disperse. Individuals who refused to leave after multiple warnings were arrested and charged with criminal trespass," the university said in a statement to ABC News.

Police dispersed people protesting the war in Gaza and made multiple arrests at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
WSYX

Videos show protesters chanting and tussling with officers outside the Ohio State University student union building. In another video, police can be heard issuing a loudspeaker warning to a dispersing crowd at OSU as a helicopter flies overhead.

Police dispersed people protesting the war in Gaza and made multiple arrests on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
WSYX

Another video shows an officer tackling someone to the ground as other officers force people back and another person falls to the ground.

-ABC News' Matthew Holroyd and Ahmad Hemingway

Apr 26, 2024, 12:52 AM EDT

Columbia University says talks with protesters 'remain ongoing'

Columbia University sent a message to the community late Thursday night, saying discussions with student protesters are "ongoing."
"The talks have shown progress and are continuing as planned," Columbia said in its message.

"For several days, a small group of faculty, administrators, and University Senators have been in dialogue with student organizers to discuss the basis for dismantling the encampment, dispersing, and following University policies going forward," the message continued. "We have our demands; they have theirs. A formal process is underway and continues."

-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway