Over two hundred protesters were apparently taken into custody after Virginia State Police cleared an anti-Israel demonstration at Charlottesville University on Saturday.
According to a video posted by UVA’s student-run paper, law enforcement officers in riot products were seen walking toward the pro-Palestinian camp and spraying chemical pollutants as they cleared the area.
Events AG O: Police in riot gear used force to break up the camp. A few protestors have been taken into custody. There have been instances of chemical allergens. Big group remains, and is being pushed up to University Ave. photograph. twitter.com/VLquCoro5z
— The Cavalier Daily ( @cavalierdaily ) May 4, 2024
Around 40 law enforcement officers were surrounded the anti-Israel campsite shortly after the student news reported this report at 12:30 p.m.
Authorities can be seen dragging a rebel away from the camp in another movie that was posted to X by the student-run newspapers.
— The Cavalier Daily ( @cavalierdaily ) May 4, 2024
After “multiple and repeated violations of some University policies, including the use of tents and enhanced sound,”” came an end,” according to UVA, after a pro-Palestinian opposition on the school was” committed to an end” by University, state, and local law enforcement.
The college wrote:
Following numerous and repeated violations of University plans, including the use of tents and magnified sound, a pro-Palestinian rally on Grounds came to an end on Saturday. Local and state authorities cleared the area. An immoral council was declared as a result of following aggressive behavior and a failure to follow law-enforcer orders.
Before Saturday’s standoff with law enforcement, which resulted in 25 arrests as of Saturday night, the presentation that began on Tuesday had been calm and complied with University plans.
After UVA President Jim Ryan revealed that the” voice of the opposition changed” on Friday night, the detention and the opening of the camp were made.
” We…. individuals affiliated with the University who also raised some health concerns were joining them, according to Ryan in an email after the demonstrators had made a public call for others to do so. ” Despite various calls to cooperate with various University plans, the protesters refused”.
According to a statement from UVA, protesters” started using megaphones and began pitching tents near the University Chapel” on Friday night. Both of these actions were in contravention of University policies that the group had originally agreed to follow.
On Saturday morning around 8:00 a.m., activists were informed that either tents had to be taken down or that facilities administration may start removing them.
Around 11:45 a.m., state and local law enforcement officials arrived to inform the activists that they were breaking school rules and gave them 10 minutes to leave.
The rally on the yard was an “unlawful assembly,” and protesters were once more knowledgeable to keep around 2:45 p.m.
The opening of the pro- Arab camp comes as authorities have raided and cleared camps at institutions, including Columbia University, the City University of New York, Fordham University, and the University of Wisconsin- Madison.
The establishment of Columbia University’s first pro-Palestinian camp on April 17 led to the suspension of many students the following day and the arrest of hundreds of protesters.
A second encampment was established before the New York Police Department launched a raid on Hamilton Hall, a campus-related intellectual tower, after the first one was taken over.
In support of the initial one that was launched at Columbia University, pro-Palestine demonstrations and camps have been set up on college and university campuses all over the country.
