College protests updates: Police crackdown leads to hundreds of arrests
Hundreds were arrested at USC, Emerson and UT Austin in the last day.
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:
- Arizona State University arrests 69 people, clears pro-Palestinian encampment
- Northeastern University detains 100 protesters, removes encampment
- NYU students set up new encampment days after over 130 students, faculty arrested
- Students arrested, charged with trespass at Ohio State University
- DPS says they used a Taser, pepper balls at Emory, but not tear gas
White House: 'We don't want to see anybody hurt in the process'
The White House said Sunday that President Joe Biden respects the right of demonstrators to make their voices heard -- peacefully -- and "we don't want to see anybody hurt in the process."
"The president knows that there are very strong feelings about the war in Gaza. He understands that, he respects that, and as he has said many times, we certainly respect the right of peaceful protest. People should have the ability to air their views and to share their perspectives publicly, but it has to be peaceful," White House national security spokesman John Kirby told ABC News "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
Kirby did warn that some language heard during the demonstrations crossed a line with the administration.
"We absolutely condemn the antisemitism language that we've heard of late, and we certainly condemn all the hate speech and the threats of violence out there. These protests, we understand they're important, but they do need to be peaceful," he said.
"We'll leave it to local authorities to determine how these protests are managed," Kirby told Stephanopoulos, "but we want them to be peaceful protests and obviously we don't want to see anybody hurt in the process of peacefully protesting."
-ABC News' Tal Axelrod
USC temporarily closes main campus due to 'disruption,' LAPD issues alert
The University of Southern California closed its main campus Saturday evening "due to a disturbance," the university said on X.
Los Angeles Police Department issued a citywide tactical alert due to a protest on USC's campus, urging people to avoid the area.
A tactical alert allows LAPD to keep officers on past their shifts and to move officers between divisions if they need extra staffing in one area of the city.
Columbia University says no impending 'lockdown or evictions on campus'
"There is no truth to claims of an impending lockdown or evictions on campus," Columbia University said in a memo to students Saturday evening.
The dialogue between the university officials and the student organizers remains ongoing, according to the university.
23 arrested at Indiana University encampment
Twenty-three people were arrested Saturday at an encampment at Indiana University, the university said.
A group erected tents and canopies on the Bloomington campus' Dunn Meadow Friday night "with the stated intention to occupy the university space indefinitely," in violation of school policy, the university said in a statement.
University and state police gave the group "multiple warnings" midday Saturday to remove the structures before detaining them for charges ranging from criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement, the university said. It is unclear what their affiliation with the university is, the school said.
"The Indiana University Police Department continues to support peaceful protests on campus that follow university policy," the university said in a statement.
The IU Divestment Coalition, a Pro-Palestinian campus group that organized the protest, said many of those arrested were students.
"They are trying to intimidate us, they are trying to break our spirit and our organizing but we will continue to stand for Gaza," the group said on social media.
93 arrested following protest at USC
Police arrested 93 people on and around the University of Southern California campus, mostly on misdemeanor trespass Wednesday night.
The university declared the campus closed in the afternoon, open only to students with their USC IDs at pedestrian gates, due to what USC said "significant activity at the center of campus."
On Wednesday night, LAPD Captain Kelly Muniz told ABC News that around 35 protesters had been processed for misdemeanor trespass. Several dozen more were waiting to be processed, Muniz said.
There was an altercation in one portion of the protest area that resulted in one arrest for assault with a deadly weapon, according to Muniz.
There are no known injuries to police or protesters.
The scene will be cleared some time tonight., Muniz said.
-ABC News' Marilyn Heck