Campus protests live updates: Police arrest protesters at USC, UT Austin as pro-Palestinian demonstrations spread to more campuses (2024)

More universities launch their own encampment protests

Princeton University president Christopher Eisgruber said in an op-ed published in the school paper Thursday that while the university embraces free expression, there are limits regarding the time and places where protests occur.

"Princeton’s time, place, and manner regulations include a clear and explicit prohibition upon encampments. They provide that 'camping in vehicles, tents, or other structures is not permitted on campus. Sleeping in outdoor space of any kind is prohibited,'" he wrote.

He said that encampments obstruct others from moving freely on campus, create health and safety risks, there’s no way to bar outsiders from joining in and, as proven by recent events on other campuses, “encampments are also prone to become sites of confrontation.”

"Dialogue, debate, and deliberation depend upon maintaining a campus that is free from intimidation, obstruction, risks to physical safety, or other impediments to the University’s scholarship, research, and teaching missions," he said.

Police said 108 people were arrested in protests around Emerson College Wednesday night.

Boston police said that no protesters were injured, and those arrested will be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court. Four officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries — three minor and one “more serious.”

The nation's colleges are set for another day of pro-Palestinian protest and disruption with sit-ins, rallies and walkouts planned across the country.

Activists at Georgetown, Penn State and Syracuse universities are all due to hold rallies or protests at 10.30 a.m. ET, while more are planned throughout the day at Fordham, Purdue, Indiana, Brown, Stanford, and many more.

Events are expected to continue at least until a teach-in at the University of Virginia at 7.30 p.m.

Events are also planned for tomorrow, in a sign that the protest movement is not slowing down.

The pro-Palestinian protest movement that has swept across the country's universities this week shows no sign of stopping, with ongoing camps at least campuses, according to NBC News' research.

Since the encampment began at New York's Columbia University on April 17, there are now similar camps from Emerson College in Boston to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Other major schools with encampments include Yale in Connecticut; the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Texas, Ausatin.

There is also an encampment at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

Columbia University's president, Minouche Shafik, received a strong vote of confidence from the institution's board of trustees last night, as pro-Palestinian protests continue on campus and at other colleges across the country.

The statement came after House Speaker Mike Johnson called on her to resign yesterday.

"The Columbia University Board of Trustees strongly supports President Shafik as she steers the university through this extraordinarily challenging time," the board said in a statement.

The board said Shafik, who took up the post on July 1, 2023, had promised to "take a thoughtful approach to resolving conflict, balancing the disparate voices that make up a vibrant campus like Columbia’s, while taking a firm stance against hatred, harassment and discrimination."

"That’s exactly what she’s doing now," the statement said, adding that the board was "urgently working with her to resolve the situation on campus."

On Monday Shafik said she was "saddened" by the situation on campus and called on protest leaders to compromise and sit down for talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Jews and non-Jews to oppose pro-Palestinian protests on campuses across the United States, comparing them to the antisemitism seen in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

"What's happening in America's college campuses is horrific. Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel, they attack Jewish students, they attack Jewish faculties," he said in a statement posted to X on Wednesday.

"This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. It's unconscionable — it has to be stopped, it has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally," he said.

The protests have drawn Jewish and Muslim students and others from a variety of backgrounds, many of them angered by the death toll in Gaza which has topped 33,000, according to health officials in the enclave. Interfaith prayers and musical performances have been held at some of them.

The protest at the University of Southern California, where at least 93 people were arrested according to police, has ended for the night.

The campus is closed and only students and staff with proper ID will be admitted, the school said.

"The protest on the UPC [University Park Campus] has ended. However, the campus remains closed until further notice.Students, faculty, staff, and people with business on campus may enter with proper identification," the USC Department of Public Safety said in a statement.

Earlier, LAPD said patrols would continue on campus through tomorrow.

There was a large police presence at a protest near Emerson College in Boston in the early hours of this morning, as seen in these images shared by Working Mass, the labor outlet the of the Democratic Socialists of America in Massachusetts.

The sister of one of four people killed by the National Guard at Kent State University in Ohio in a notorious incident during the Vietnam War today condemned calls by some Republicans for the military to be called in to quell campus protests.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, was asked today at Columbia University about calls for the military to be used. “If this is not contained quickly, and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard," he said.

No governor has yet called for the National Guard for the student protests.

Laurel Krause, the sister of 19-year-old Allison Krause, who was fatally shot at Kent State on May 4, 1970, called on universities to support the rights of students to protest.

“In 1970 failures of Kent State University leadership enabled the massacre which left ‘Four Dead in Ohio,’” Krause said in a statement, referring to lyrics in the famous Neil Young song “Ohio.”

“Our institutions must learn from these past mistakes to not use militarized responses against unarmed, peaceful student protesters by calling in the National Guard, bringing in State Troopers or deploying Police in riot gear,” Krause added.

It just added fuel to the fire.

The decision by Columbia University’s president, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, to call in the New York Police Department to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from the campus last week appears to have sparked the spate of increasingly strident demonstrations that have erupted at universities in New York City and across the country in recent days, students and faculty members said.

Since Thursday, when policearrested 108 Columbia University demonstrators, similar protests have erupted on campuses across the country.

The encampment at Columbia sprung up April 17, the day Shafik was grilled abouton-campus antisemitismby the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Shafikfaced questions about her handling of antisemitism on campus after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 alongside two members of Columbia’s Board of Trustees and the head of its antisemitism task force. The next day, Shafik had police clear the encampment; more than 100 protesters were arrested.

Read the full story here.

The Los Angeles Police Department said late tonight that 93 people were arrested at today’s protest at the University of Southern California.

There were no injuries, the LAPD said on X. The arrests were for trespassing.

“Patrols will remain in the area through tomorrow,” the department said.

AUSTIN, Texas — Around 150 people outside the Travis County Jail in Austin chanted “let them out” and “free Palestine” tonight after more than 30 people were arrested in demonstrations at the University of Texas at Austin.

At least 34 people were arrested at the demonstration at the university earlier today, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

University President Jay Hartzell said that a group tried to “occupy” part of the campus in protest over the war in Gaza, broke university policies and refused multiple requests to leave.

The demonstrators outside the jail tonight beat on a drum and chanted, “All charges have got to go.”

A letter that says it is from “concerned UT Austin faculty” condemned university leaders and said faculty members won’t work tomorrow because of the school’s “militarized response” to a student event.

“No business as usual tomorrow. No classes. No grading. No work. No assignments,” the letter read. It was not clear from the letter how many faculty members planned to participate.

A university spokesperson said the administration had seen the statement but would not comment on it.

Several professors shared the letter today on social media. It called out President Jay Hartzell and other administrators for allowing police on the campus and turning it into a “militarized zone” in response to a planned “Public University for Gaza” event on the school’s main lawn.

The planned event featured no threat of violence, no disruption to classes and no intimidation of the campus community, the letter noted.

“We are deeply concerned about our students’ well-being and safety,” the letter read. “We have witnessed police punching a female student, knocking over a legal observer, dragging a student over a chain link fence, and violently arresting students simply for standing at the front of the crowd.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. —Around 120 people gathered to hear speeches at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor today condemning the war in Gaza, while those at an encampment there vowed to stay until their demands are met.

Those at the encampment in support of Gaza say they want the university to “divest,” a demand also made at other colleges that they not support entities that could be linked to the war and sometimes not to invest in Israel.

The university says it shields decisions about investments from outside pressure.

“Regarding the calls for divestment, the university has had apolicy in place for nearly 20 years that shields the university’s investments from political pressures,” a spokesperson has said.

“Much of the money invested through the university’s endowment, for example, is donor funding given to provide long-term financial support for designated purposes,” the spokesperson said.

Derek Peterson, an African history professor, today saluted the protesters.

“The insults to humanity that’s going on in Gaza today requires action and not simple passive response," he said.

The president of the University of Texas at Austin called today “a challenging day” but said protesters will not be allowed to break the school's rules and policies.

“Our University will not be occupied,” President Jay Hartzell said.

“The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse,” Hartzell wrote.

Protesters against the war in Gaza have attempted to set up encampments at universities all over the country to show their opposition for the conflict.

Hartzell said the university respects free speech but will take all necessary steps to ensure it can continue to operate without interruption.

As of 9 p.m. local time, there have been 34 arrests at the University of Texas at Austin after demonstrations opposing the war in Gaza, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Los Angeles police said around 50 people have been arrested so far at the University of Southern California after protesters refused to leave the central campus, NBC Los Angeles reported.

The demonstration earlier prompted the school's provost to restrict access to the University Park campus after he said "their actions have escalated to include acts of vandalism, defacing campus buildings and structures, as well as physical confrontation that threatens the safety of our officers and campus community."

Police moved in at around 6 p.m. PT after warnings were issued that those who remained would be subject to arrest.

Police at the University of Southern California began detaining demonstrators in plastic hand restraints after a group of Gaza war protesters refused to leave.

Officers took demonstrators one by one to police vans, video from NBC Los Angeles at the scene showed. Others stood by and watched from around the area.

After being warned to leave or face arrest, a group of demonstrators locked arms in a circle and chanted that they wanted USC to disclose its investments and divest from entities associated with war.

The arrests appeared to be orderly and peaceful.

A Jewish group in Los Angeles today called the tone of protests on campus against the war in Gaza alarming and said it was concerned about antisemitism.

The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles issued the statement on the day a demonstration on the campus of the University of Southern California, which is in Los Angeles, devolved into vandalism and confrontations, according to the university.

“While we believe in peaceful civic discourse, these protests have escalated to the point of creating a dangerous climate for Jews on campus,” the Jewish Federation said in a statement.

According to authorities in Gaza, more than 30,000 people have been killed in the enclave in Israel's response to Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, which killed about 1,200 people.

The provost of the University of Southern California has allowed academic deans to move classes online for the rest of the week, the university said in a statement.

Instructors also have the option to continue to teach in person, the statement said.

Police have moved onto the campus and given orders for protesters to disperse or face arrest, and some protesters have been detained.

A group of protesters have moved into an intersection near the University of Southern in California, where the LAPD was preparing to move on other protesters.

Aerial video from NBC Los Angeles showed some cars doing U-turns and going back the way they came after the group stood in the T-shaped intersection with signs.

University officials today warned Princeton students that they will be arrested and barred from the New Jersey campus if they participate in encampments or engage in other “unlawful disruptive conduct."

In an email to students, Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun reiterated the school’s support for freedom of expression but said officials would step in when protests disrupt operations or create “unsafe” situations.

“In addition to disrupting University operations, some types of protest actions (including occupying or blocking access to buildings, establishing outdoor encampments and sleeping in any campus outdoor space) are inherently unsafe for both those involved and for bystanders, and they increase the potential for escalation and confrontation,” Calhoun wrote.

That conduct is prohibited, and it runs counter to the university’s mission and legal obligation to provide a safe environment for students and employees, she continued, adding that the school will “act promptly in order to address it.”

“Any individual involved in an encampment, occupation, or other unlawful disruptive conduct who refuses to stop after a warning will be arrested and immediately barred from campus,” she said. “For students, such exclusion from campus would jeopardize their ability to complete the semester.”

Potential disciplinary action includes suspension, delay of diploma or expulsion, she added.

Police detained at least one protester on the campus of the University of Southern California as they moved in to clear demonstrators from the center of campus.

Officers with helmets on moved into the area at around 5:37 p.m. PT after USC Police Chief Lauretta Hill warned people to leave Alumni Park, saying that it was private property and that they had 10 minutes to leave or face arrest.

A group linked arms and formed a circle, chanting “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” Another person wrote a jail support phone number on their arms expecting to be arrested, video from NBC Los Angeles showed.

Officers with riot helmets and batons detained a protester outside the school’s public affairs building, and a crowd chanted, “Let her go!"

Earlier today, USC Provost Andrew Guzman said that protesters refused orders to move to a “compliant location” and that the campus would be closed and visitors would be restricted.

“Their actions have escalated to include acts of vandalism, defacing campus buildings and structures, as well as physical confrontation that threatens the safety of our officers and campus community,” Guzman, who is also USC’s senior vice president for academic affairs, said in a letter to the campus.

Many of the demonstrators appeared not to be connected to USC, he wrote. At one point, a chanting crowd surrounded a police vehicle, video showed. Other video showed security removing a tent.

Throughout the afternoon, USC said there was “still significant activity at the center of the UPC campus due to a demonstration” and urged people to avoid it.

Protesters refusing to leave the center of the USC campus in University Park will be arrested, the university security department warned moments ago.

"The Los Angeles Police Department is clearing the center of the UPC campus. If you are in the center of campus, please leave; LAPD will be arresting people who don’t disperse," the USC Department of Public Safety said on X at around 5:50 p.m. PT.

The chief of USC's Department of Public Safety told demonstrators who have been at the campus’ Alumni Park they face criminal trespass charges if they do not leave.

“This is private property,” Chief Lauretta Hill warned demonstrators after protests over the Gaza war that USC said devolved into acts of vandalism and confrontations.

“You have 10 minutes to leave the park,” Hill said, using a megaphone. She said those who refused to leave would be subject to criminal trespass.

Harvard is monitoring a pro-Palestinian encampment that was set up in the center of campus, a university spokesperson said today.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and are prioritizing the safety and security of the campus community,” spokesperson Jason Newton said in a statement.

Video posted to social media showed a large group of people waving Palestinian flags, setting up tents and chanting pro-Palestinian messages on Harvard Yard, a grassy area that constitutes the school’s historic center.

UT Austin graduate Meg Halpin was at today’s demonstration for a reason that was personal in a way, even though the war in Gaza is half a world away.

“I just can’t stop thinking about the kids in Gaza. I’m a mom, too,” Halpin told NBC News. “So thinking about what those families have been going through."

Halpin said she is proud of the students for demonstrating.

“I think it’s really beautiful to see students showing up just to take a stand for those people and against what’s happening to those families in Gaza,” she said.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to health authorities there, since Israel launched its war against Hamas in response to Hamas terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,300 in Israel in October.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights yesterday cited authorities in Gaza as saying 14,685 of those killed have been children.

WASHINGTON —Bidenmet Wednesday withAbigail Edan,the 4-year-old American girl who was held hostage in Gaza for several weeks at the start of the war.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the White House meeting with Abigail and her family was “a reminder of the work still to do” to win the release of dozens of people Hamas took captive in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel and are still believed to be in captivity in Gaza.

Abigail, who has dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, was taken hostage after her parents were killed in the attack, and she was released nearly seven weeks later. She was the first U.S. hostage freed by Hamas as part of a deal with Israel to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners early in the war. Abigail turned 4 in captivity.

“It was also a reminder in getting to see her that there are still Americans and others being held hostage by Hamas,” said Sullivan, who attended Biden’s meeting with the Abigail and her family. “And we’re working day in, day out to ensure all of them also are able to get safely home to their loved ones.”

Hamas today released a recorded video of an Israeli American it still holds. Sullivan said U.S. law enforcement officials are assessing the video but declined to comment further.

Two freshmen expressing support today for Israel at UT Austin, where 20 people were arrested in pro-Palestinian protests, said they support how the university and police are responding.

“If I went to school in New York, the school would be online; I wouldn’t even be getting an education,” Bradley Bleiman, who is from Chicago and Jewish, told NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin.

Bleiman and Josh Roth, who is from New York and is also Jewish, said it has been uncomfortable at times on the campus of around 51,000 as passions have been inflamed by the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel and Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people there, according to Gaza health officials.

Bleiman said his fraternity was vandalized in the fall. “It’s been hard, right? It’s uncomfortable,” he told the station.

“I was literally on my way to my math exam, and I heard 'Free Palestine' as I’m walking to my test, trying to be prepared for math and everything,” Roth said.

“It’s like you can’t escape it, even if you don’t want to be a part of this. Even if you want to stay on the sidelines, you can’t escape it,” Roth said. “It’s horrible, and I really wish it wasn’t happening at UT.”

The Columbia University Board of Trusteestoday publicly backed President Nemat "Minouche" Shafik after House Speaker Mike Johnson called on her to resign if she can't tamp down Gaza war protests on campus.

In a statement, the board said it "strongly supports" Shafik "as she steers the university through this extraordinarily challenging time." Shafik and top university officials met with Johnson, R-La., and several of his Republican colleagues earlier.

"During the search process for this role, President Shafik told us that she would always take a thoughtful approach to resolving conflict, balancing the disparate voices that make up a vibrant campus like Columbia’s, while taking a firm stance against hatred, harassment and discrimination," the board wrote. "That’s exactly what she’s doing now."

Speaking on the steps of Columbia’s Low Library today, Johnson called on Shafik to "bring order to this chaos” as students and protesters continue to maintain a pro-Palestinian encampment at the school.

The board said it is working with Shafik to resolve the situation and "rebuild the bonds of our community," and it encouraged other to join those efforts.

The $26 billion aid bill to Israel that was passed by the Senate last night and signed by President Joe Biden today has been the subject of protests by those who oppose U.S. military support for Israel in its war in Gaza.

The bill includes billions in weapons, as well as some humanitarian assistance.

It provides:

• $5.2 billion to restock Israel’s missile and rocket defense systems the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Iron Beam — $4 billion is for Iron Dome and David’s Sling, and $1.2 billion is for Iron Beam.
• $4.4 billion to resupply the Defense Department for military equipment and other assistance sent to Israel.
• $3.5 billion available for weapons systems and defense services for Israel through the Foreign Military Financing Program.
• A little more than $9 billion for humanitarian assistance.

The bill includes provisions to report whether any assistance to Gaza was diverted by Hamas.

The bill passed with a large bipartisan majority in the Senate, 79-18. It also includes military funding for Ukraine and Taiwan.

University of Southern California public safety officers detained pro-Palestinian demonstrators during clashes after officers tried to take down an encampment at the university in Los Angeles in support of Gaza today.

In an interview after his remarks at Columbia, House Speaker Johnson defended his comments that Jewish students are running for their lives on campus.

"They canceled classes out of fear of physical violence with these students," Johnson told NBC News after he was asked why that level of rhetoric was being used.

Many Jewish students talked about being afraid but did not describe running for safety.

Johnson went on to criticize the president of Columbia and other Ivy League schools, saying student protesters should be arrested after a certain point.

"These administrators can’t control their campus. The first responsibility of a university administrator is to keep their students safe," he said.

Asked about arresting students, Johnson said: "If you don’t get control of it, yes, they should be arrested."

The gates at the University of Southern California are closed because of a demonstration and anyone affiliated with the university must show identification to attend classes or other business on campus, school officials said this afternoon.

Students were urged to "avoid the center of campus unless you have a class," the university said in a statement.

The protest outside Doheny Memorial Library and in the center of academic buildings have been attended by many people who are not associated with USC, according to a letter to the USC community from Andrew T. Guzman, the university's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Demonstrators were "repeatedly asked by security personnel to remove their tents and other prohibited items as well as relocate to a compliant location. In each case, protesters refused," Guzman said. "Their actions have escalated to the point of confrontation and have threatened the safety of our officers and campus community."

Law enforcement have arrested more than 20 people on the University of Texas at Austin campus, the state Public Safety Department said in a statement.

The statement said the Public Safety Department was called to campus today at the request of the university and Gov. Greg Abbott “in order to prevent any unlawful assembly and to support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including criminal trespass.”

Abbott, in reply to a video on X of pro-Palestinian protests at UT Austin, said arrests were being made "right now" and "will continue until the crowd disperses.

"These protesters belong in jail," Abbott wrote on X. He added: "Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled."

Reports that Columbia University was calling in the National Guard to help maintain order are "baseless," the school's vice president of communications said.

"I also want to make a point about an assertion that's been made, a rumor that is baseless, about the university threatening to bring in the National Guard," Ben Chang said at a briefing today. "Let me be clear, that is untrue and an unsubstantiated claim."

Referring to statement sent out by the university last night, Chang said there was no mention of either New York police or the National Guard and pointed listeners to "the words of the statement as to what our focus is on."

“Our focus, our goal, is to restore order, and if we can get there through dialogue, we will," Chang said.

Columbia President Minouche Shafik met with House Speaker Mike Johnson ahead of his remarks at the university this afternoon, Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president of communications, said at a briefing today.

When Johnson's visit to the university was announced, Chang said Shafik offered to meet with Johnson, R-La., and his House colleagues, which she did before their joint remarks.

"The president shares the representatives' focus on and commitment to the safety and security of all members of the campus community, and she appreciates help from all of those who offer it," Chang said.

Speaking outside the Low Library, Johnson and his colleagues called for Shafik to resign "if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.”

Harvard University has joined the growing list of American universities holding solidarity encampment protests.

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, a group that describes itself on Instagram as a "coalition of Harvard students fighting for divestment and a #FreePalestine," posted today that it established a "liberated zone" on campus, joining a slew of other campuses across the country.

"Following the lead of our brave comrades on campuses across the country, this Liberated Zone is a demonstration of our love of justice, our hope for a free Palestine, and our dream of a liberated future for all," it said on Instagram. "We see our institution's complicity as one link among many that must be severed on the path to liberation."

The group is demanding that Harvard disclose any and all investments in "Israel, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the occupation of Palestine," as well as that it "divest from all such investment" and reinvest those resources into "Palestinian academic initiatives, communities, and culture."

It is also demanding Harvard drop charges against students for "organizing and activism, and commit to ending the weaponization of disciplinary policy."

The encampment was set up in Harvard Yard, according to the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. Harvard Yard was to be closed until Friday in anticipation of possible protests.

The University of Texas at Austin "does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses," a spokesperson for the university's Division of Student Affairs said in a statement, referring to a number of pro-Palestinian encampments and protests that have popped up at schools across the country.

"This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption," the UT statement said.

The spokesperson shared a PDF of a letter sent to the Palestine Solidarity Committee last night, which says the university is "steadfast in our support of free speech" but asked the group to cancel the event because it "declared intent to violate our policies and rules, and disrupt our campus operations."

“Simply put, The University of Texas at Austin will not allow this campus to be ‘taken’ and protesters to derail our mission in ways that groups affiliated with your national organization have accomplished elsewhere,” the letter said.

In remarks outside of the Low Library at Columbia University, Speaker Mike Johnson and his colleagues from the House called for university President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik to resign over her handling of the dayslong protests at the Ivy League school and her inability to protect Jewish students on campus.

Johnson, R-La., said he is “calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.”

The announcement came moments after Johnson and fellow members of Congress met with Jewish students at Columbia, who recalled recent "heinous acts of bigotry" and instances of antisemitism on campus, the lawmakers said.

When Johnson took the podium outside the library, he was met with a chorus of boos from protesters gathered nearby. Throughout his speech, the protesters chanted, "We can't hear you," among other sentiments, to continually disrupt his remarks.

Johnson acknowledged the inalienable rights students in America have, but he called out the need to keep all students safe and said, "Those who are perpetrating this violence should be arrested."

He said Congress "will not be silent" as Jewish students are "expected to run for their lives" and forced to stay home from class and attend virtually to ensure their safety.

Asked what he has to say to the students in the encampment at Columbia, Johnson said, "Go back to class and stop the madness," adding that they "can't intimidate fellow students and make them stay home from class."

Earlier today, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she didn't see the benefit of Johnson's visit to Columbia.

"I think politicizing this and bringing the entourage to put a spotlight on this is only adding to the division,” Hochul said. "A speaker worth the title should really be trying to heal people and not divide them, so I don’t think it adds to anything."

South Asian students in Columbia University's encampment are using traditional dance from the subcontinent to show solidarity with the protesters. Viral videos show Punjabi students performing bhangra in the middle of the tents, which have been set up at the campus for days, even following controversial mass arrests.

Columbia's renowned bhangra team has a 20-year history on campus. Other students at the protest performed bharatnatyam, a dance style native to South India.

The video went viral, reached Indian Americans across the country.

"This made me cry," a comment said. "My grandmother lived through the British occupation of India. She was classically trained in bharatnatyam dance and Carnatic music."

Police responded to the encampment protest and were seen taking down tents at the University of Southern California this afternoon — hours after student activists started their demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Video shared by the activist group People’s City Council — Los Angeles showed USC Public Safety officers dismantling a tent on the Los Angeles campus.

Other video shared by a local ABC affiliate reporter showed a group of police officers pushing back protesters and one officer running after a protester and pinning him against a tree, as demonstrators clamored, “Let go of him!”

The USC Department of Public Safety issued an alert saying, “There is significant activity at the center of the UPC campus due to a demonstration.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the college protests taking place across the U.S., saying in a speech today: “What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific.”

Netanyahu described the pro-Palestinian encampments and protests expressing solidarity with the plight of the people in Gaza as “antisemitic mobs” taking over “leading universities.”

“It has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally. But that’s not what happened. The response of several university presidents was shameful,” Netanyahu said.

Many of the protests on campuses have been peaceful, though there have been reports of unruly behavior by outside parties on the periphery of such demonstrations.

Some Jewish students who joined protests at elite universities expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause saytheir own stories of being Jewish anti-Zionists are being ignored.

Police are responding to a divestment rally in solidarity with Palestinians unfolding at the University of Texas at Austin campus this afternoon, school police said.

Several students have been arrested, NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin reported.

The school paper, The Daily Texan, wrote on X that state troopers were trying to block protesters from moving north with batons, and it reported that at least two people had been arrested, one of them related to the university.

Uniformed troopers, some with horses, marched through the demonstration area as hordes of students and protesters chanted, “Off our campus!”

The Palestine Solidarity Committee of Austin shared a photo ofdozens of troopers dressed in riot gear with vests, shin guards and helmets and holding batons standing on the Speedway Mall of campus.

About 200 students who had gathered for the afternoon rally were immediately met with heavy police and trooper presence that dispersed the crowds, KXAN reported.

Columbia University's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine says the university has issued a “written commitment and concession not to call the NYPD or the National Guard” on protesters — a move hailed as “an important victory for students.”

The group said that the administration had previously warned of law enforcement sweeps and “threatened violence” against pupils, causing negotiations to fail and prompting “thousands of peaceful students” to flood the lawns “in support of their peers” last night.

“Student protesters on Columbia’s campus — the majority of whom are Palestinian, Black, brown, and Jewish students from marginalized backgrounds — stood by each other for hours last night, awaiting the outcome of Columbia’s disturbing threat of military or police violence,” the group said.Columbia extended its deadline for students to vacate the lawn multiple times last night.

“We fear that Columbia is risking a second Jackson State or Kent State massacre, referring to two instances in which universities called the National Guard on student protesters to have them violently beaten and killed,” the group said.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stopped near a Columbia University protest yesterday, where he spoke to some people through his car window, and was heckled.

Giuliani, who served as part of Donald Trump's legal team when he was in office, remained in a black SUV, donning an American-flag themed shirt.

"Lock him up! Lock him up!" a heckler was heard yelling. "Rudy Giuliani! Go to jail! New York hates you! The Yankees hate you!"

Peace and environmental activist Naomi Klein, who is Jewish, joined hundreds of antiwar demonstrators outside New York Sen. Chuck Schumer's home Tuesday night for an "emergency" Seder.

Addressing the crowd, Klein said Zionism has become a "false idol" and said calling for an end to the war in Gaza is not antisemitic. Read the full text of her speech here.

Here's an excerpt:

"Our Judaism cannot be contained by an ethnostate, for our Judaism is internationalist by nature.

Our Judaism cannot be protected by the rampaging military of that state, for all that military does is sow sorrow and reap hatred — including against us as Jews.

Our Judaism is not threatened by people raising their voices in solidarity with Palestine across lines of race, ethnicity, physical ability, gender identity and generations.

Our Judaism is one of those voices and knows that in that chorus lies both our safety and our collective liberation."

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R- La., said he’ll call for Columbia University’s President Minouche Shafik to resign when he visits campus today.

“This president, Shafik, has shown to be a very weak, inept leader. They cannot even guarantee the safety of Jewish students? They’re expected to run for their lives and stay home from class? It’s just, it’s maddening. What we’re seeing on these college campuses across the country is disgusting and unacceptable,” Johnson said in a morning interview with conservative political commentator and radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Columbia's campus has seen encampment protests since last week and controversial mass arrests.

Johnson is set to meet with Jewish students a 3 p.m. and hold a news conference at 3:45 p.m.today.

The University of Southern California in Los Angeles was the latest school to start a solidarity encampment protest today.

A statement shared online from the USC Divest from Death Coalition, comprising students, faculty and Los Angeles community members, said “Our choice of ‘occupation’ draws attention to the complicity of USC in the Israeli occupation, USC’s displacement of the South Central community, and USC being an occupying force on the unneeded land of the Tongva people.”

The group said it was joining the nationwide call by students for universities to disclose their finances, "divest from Israeli violence" and "defend Palestinians."

Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika, an assistant professor of journalism at NYU, said he and other faculty members went to support students protesting in support of Palestinians yesterday when ranks of “intimidating” helmeted police officers closed in and arrested them.

”I can’t even count how many police. Then they arrested faculty and they violently arrest students, and sort of destroyed this academy that the students had set up. Took all of us down to One Police Plaza, the NYPD headquarters, and everyone was charged with trespass,” he said.

Kumanyika said students were grabbed, handcuffed with zip ties and officers were seen throwing chairs.

“All of this is being done under the justification that it is somehow protecting the NYU community. But I think what’s actually going on is that this university wants to avoid the call for divestment, the call for transparency about its investments in Israel. Just the idea that this is about safety is kind of ridiculous, given what I experienced last night,” he said.

President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package today that includes $26 billion in assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief in Gaza.

Gaza will receive $1 billion in aid that includes funds for food, medical supplies and water.

"This bill significantly, significantly increases humanitarian assistance we’re sending to the innocent people of Gaza who are suffering badly, they are suffering the consequences of this war that Hamas started and we’ve been working intently for months to get as much aid to Gaza as possible," Biden told reporters.

"Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay," he said.

Student protesters at the University of California's Berkeley campus joined students across the country yesterday in demanding their school cut all ties with Israeli institutions.

The Berkeley protesters have camped out for the last two days in opposition to the war in Gaza."I guess I'm not super surprised. I mean, it is Berkeley, things like this are happening all the time. The only thing that's surprising me is, it's this late in the semester," UC Berkeley student Any Bass told KNTV, NBC News' affiliate in the Bay Area.

"$2 billion of our tuition money goes to funding contacts with arms and weapons manufacturers, like Boeing, BlackRock, Lockheed Martin and many more," another student, Malak Agenah, said.

The university, however, was unmoved. "We're heard what their demands are and there are no plans to change our investment strategies, policies or practices," spokesperson Dan Mogulof told KNTV.

An encampment protest started this morning at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, with about 90 students seen joining shortly after 6 a.m., the school said.

A university spokesperson said that encampment on the university’s “historic and residential greens is a violation of University policy.” Students participating were informed they’d face conduct proceedings, the school added.

“We have been troubled by reports of violence, harassment and intimidation at some encampments on other campuses, but we have not seen that kind of behavior at Brown. Any such behavior would not be tolerated,” the university said, noting it is monitoring the situation.

An Instagram post by theBrown Divest Coalition said the protest demands that Brown divest its endowment from “all companies enabling and profiting from the genocide in Gaza and the broader Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.”

A spokesperson for Columbia University says students have committed to dismantling and removing a significant number of tents amid nationwide protests.

The news came as some university staff, including journalism professor Hagar Chemali, criticized the protests.

"At the end of the day, we can't be enabling hate or incitement to violence, or disruption to the students." she told NBC's "TODAY" show this morning.

Pro-Palestinian supporters rally inside Columbia University in New York City last night. Students are seen moving a tent inside the campus as demonstrations continue into the night.

Nine people were arrested at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus yesterday, the institution said this morning.

Some students had set up an encampment on the north end of Northrop Mall and were warned by police early yesterday to disperse or be arrested. Some chose to disperse while others chose to remain and peacefully protest before they were arrested and later released.

"It’s important to note that the U of M supports and respects free speech through lawful protest. As a public research university, demonstrations where groups express diverse views and opinions occur regularly on our campus," a school spokespersonsaid. "We support the rights of all members of our University community to speak and demonstrate peacefully."

At least 209 people were arrested last night after pro-Palestinian Jewish groups held a rally at Grand Army Plaza in New York, near the home of Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, the NYPD told NBC New York.

The protests came after the Senate overwhelmingly passed a $26 billion package that included new assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief for Gaza.

Universities across the country will stage their own protests today to decry the war in the Middle East and express solidarity with Gaza.

Encampment protests went late into the night at New York University and Columbia University last evening.

Today in Texas, Rice University in Houston will hold a Gaza protest starting at 10 a.m. local time (11 a.m. ET); meanwhile the University of Texas at Austin will see students walk out of class for a divestment rally just before noon.

In the Midwest, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has a walkout slated for 12 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) to demand acknowledgment of the killings of Palestinians because of Israeli occupation and to call for divestment from Israel.

The University of Michigan saw students set up an encampment protest Monday by a coalition of pro-Palestinian student organizations. A rally is scheduled on campus, as well, at 3 p.m. to support the encampment.

The FBI is coordinating with college campuses to make them aware of antisemitic threats and possible violence in connection with the ongoing wave of protestsover the Israel-Hamas war,FBI Director Christopher Wray told NBC News’ Lester Holt in an exclusive interview last night.

He said the FBI is “keenly focused on working with state and local law enforcement, campus law enforcement and others to try to make sure that we stay ahead” of any threats of violence.

Wray said the FBI doesn’t monitor protests, “but we do share intelligence about specific threats of violence with campuses, with state and local law enforcement.”

Read more here

The Senate yesterday overwhelmingly passed an aid package that includes $26 billion in assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief in Gaza.

The package, approved by a 79-18 vote, also includes aid for Ukraine and Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

Protesters gathered near Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn home yesterday, opposed to U.S. military assistance to Israel in the war in Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians.

The total amount of the package to the three areas is $95 billion, and it includes a provision that could lead to a nationwideban on TikTok.

President Joe Biden said he will swiftly sign the package into law.

Read more here

Valerie Castro breaks down the decadeslong history of college campuses serving as platforms for cultural movements as more groups from universities across the nation have joined in on the pro-Palestinian movement.

Columbia University has said it will continue conversations with pro-Palestinian protest leaders for the next 48 hours, without forcing the encampment to be removed.

Student groups had been circulating messages that a new deadline to disperse had been set for 8 a.m. ET. But the college said there was no deadline and instead talks continue and some concessions had been agreed.

"We are making important progress with representatives of the student encampment on the West lawn," a college spokesperson said. The statement also confirmed that:

• Student protesters have agreed to remove "a significant number of tents.
• Protest leaders will ensure only students enrolled at Columbia will be taking part.
• The encampment will comply with New York City Fire Department rules.
• And that protesters will "make the encampment welcome to all and have prohibited discriminatory or harassing language."

Columbia previously said it had set a deadline of midnight for dismantling the encampment, dispersing and following university policies going forward.