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
NYPD officers have entered Hamilton Hall through second-floor window
New York Police Department officers have entered Hamilton Hall through the second-floor window.
NYPD moves in at Columbia, begins making arrests
New York Police Department officers have moved onto the Columbia University campus and have begun making arrests.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
Columbia authorizes NYPD to move onto campus
New York City has received authorization from Columbia University to send the NYPD onto campus, a senior city official told ABC News.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
USC President condemns swastika drawn on campus
University of Southern California President Carol Folt released a statement Tuesday after being alerted to an alleged swastika drawn on the USC campus.
"I've just been made aware of a swastika drawn on our campus," Folt said in an update on X Tuesday afternoon.
"I condemn any antisemitic symbols or any form of hate speech against anyone. Clearly it was drawn there to incite even more anger at a time that is so painful for our community," Folt continued.
Folt said the university is investigating and that the swastika has been removed.
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.