College protests updates: Police begin dismantling University of Chicago encampment
Police entered the campus encampment early Tuesday, WLS reported.
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:
- Over 300 Harvard professors sign letter urging Harvard to negotiate with protesters
- Police begin dismantling encampment at University of Chicago
- MIT students ordered to leave campus encampment
- More than 60 arrests made at UC San Diego
- Harvard president threatens 'involuntary leave' for students who continue encampment
Campus police deploy 'chemical irritant' at University of Arizona
Campus police officers at the University of Arizona in Tucson shot "chemical irritant" munitions at a gathering of protesters early Wednesday, the department said.
The university's president, Robert C. Robbins, had asked the campus police and school officials to "immediately enforce campus use policies and all corresponding laws," according to a statement from his office.
The Tucson Police Department and other law enforcement agencies also responded to campus, the university said.
Campus officers closed several blocks of Park Avenue as they responded to the "unlawful assembly," the department said.
Video appeared to show police handcuffing individuals on the ground and protesters forming a human chain facing officers.
"Police deploying chemical irritant munitions," the department said amid a series of updates on social media. "Follow orders of police and disperse immediately. Avoid the area of University Blvd & Park Ave."
-ABC News' Amanda Morris and Kevin Shalvey
UCLA officials 'sickened' by violence on campus, chancellor says
As groups of counter-protesters clashed with Pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the UCLA campus early Wednesday, a university official said staff were “sickened” by the violence.
“Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support,” Mary Osaka, a vice chancellor, said in a statement.
Osaka aded that the fire department and medical responders were near the scene.
"We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end,” she said.
-ABC News’ Bonnie Mclean and Kevin Shalvey
At least 100 arrested at 2 NY campuses, NYPD says
The New York Police Department made at least 100 arrests overnight, with most at Columbia University. Arrests were also made at City College of New York, officials said.
Many of those taken into custody are still being processed at police headquarters.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Protesters clash on UCLA campus, LAPD responds
Clashes between opposing groups of protesters at the University of California Los Angeles included "multiple acts of violence," prompting university officials to ask police to enter the campus, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
Officers responded to assist campus police "to restore order and maintain public safety," the LAPD said.
State and local politicians said they were monitoring the situation, with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass calling the violence "absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable."
Gov. Gavin Newsom said his office had been in contact with law enforcement leadership.
-ABC News' Bonnie Mclean, Amanda Morris and Kevin Shalvey
NYPD officers move on to City College of New York campus
NYPD officers entered the campus of the City College of New York late Tuesday night.
"As requested by the university, we are currently on campus to assist the university in dispersing those trespassing," NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations, Kaz Daughtry, said in a post on X, sharing video of the police moving in.
In a note to the campus community, university president Vince Boudreau, said protests on campus presented "heightened challenges."
"Most importantly, this is not primarily a CCNY demonstration, and perhaps not primarily a CUNY demonstration. The significant inclusion of un-affiliated external individuals means that we don’t have established connections to them," Boudreau's letter read.
He continued: "Specifically, this demonstration has been more contentious and violent than anything we’ve seen on campus before. Today, we distributed a letter to members of the encampment detailing specific examples of threats to the safety of people within and outside the encampment, so that all of them understand the full scope of the activity. We also want all of them, and those of you reading this note, to understand that in no way does our response to this particular and extraordinary threat overwrite our more fundamental commitments to free speech, academic freedom, or the right to peacefully protest that comply with CCNY and CUNY regulations."
Boudreau said the encamped demonstrators were told to take down their encampment and follow CUNY guidelines for "future activities."
The university president also said classes would be remote on Wednesday due to the situation on campus.
-ABC News' Jolie Lash and Victoria Arancio