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.


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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


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.

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.