Last Update May 08, 2024 09:10am ET

Police made at least 35 arrests at George Washington University as law enforcement worked to clear an anti-Israel encampment on campus early Wednesday morning. More than 2,600 people have been arrested on 50 campuses in the three weeks since the movement began at Columbia University, according to the Associated Press.

Covered by: Chris Pandolfo, Landon Mion and Elizabeth Pritchett

Fast Facts

•  More than 2,600 arrests have been made at anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses across the nation. 
•  Anti-Israel agitators have set up encampments, disrupted university operations and demanded their schools fully divest from Israel at more than 50 campuses. 
•  President Biden has condemned antisemitism and lawless behavior witnessed at these protests. 

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1 hour(s) ago

NYPD arrests 50 protesters at Fashion Institute of Technology

New York Police Department officers arrest demonstrators who were gathered outside NYC’s Fashion Institute of Technology, after an anti-Israel encampment in New York, United States on May 07, 2024. Students and two journalists were detained. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

New York police arrested 50 anti-Israel protesters at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) on Tuesday night.

It was the last standing encampment in New York City to have been cleared. 

NYPD were called to the demonstration at Union Square Park at approximately 6:40 p.m. Tuesday. Protesters then marched to different locations in the Manhattan South area, police said. 

“Multiple people were taken into custody at West 27th street between 7th & 8th Avenue. A total of 50 individuals were taken into custody, and the investigation remains ongoing,” according to an NYPD spokesperson. 

NYPD said it would not have dismantled the encampment without the request or approval of FIT. All night protestors chanted ‘FIT go to hell’ and again chanted to cops “oink oink piggy piggy we will make your life sh*tty.”

More than 2,400 people have been arrested at 50 anti-Israel protests at 50 college campuses across the U.S., according to the Associated Press. 

Fox News’ Matthew Finn and David Hammelburg contributed to this update.

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BREAKING NEWS1 min(s) ago

DC police chief: 33 arrested at GWU anti-Israel encampment after signs of potential violence

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said 33 people were arrested at the anti-Israel encampment at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning.

During a press conference, Smith explained that police decided to intervene after the initially peaceful protest began to escalate and showed risks of violence. Police began to suspect the protest was becoming “more volatile and less stable” after an officer as pushed by protesters and an item was grabbed out of his hand last Thursday, Smith said.

Other indicators included, “police security probing of a G.W. building, indicators that counter-demonstrators were covertly in the encampment and information that protesters from other schools were traveling to GW. In addition, items that could potentially be used for offensive and defensive weapons were being gathered,” Smith said.

After consulting with Mayor Muriel Bowser, police decided to act and gave multiple warnings to the demonstrators to disperse. After six dispersal announcements, police entered the encampment and began to make arrests for unlawful entry and assault on a police officer. 

Following the arrests, additional protesters appeared outside the police perimeter. Officers and protesters clashed at 20th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue and police deployed pepper spray and made some arrests, according to the chief. 

Mayor Bowser thanked Metropolitan Police for their response and affirmed the right of people to protest peacefully. 

“I want to be clear that our responses to demonstrations is always rooted in public safety and constitutional responsibility, and the chief and her team are the experts in public safety and always have the final word on hour our resources are deployed,” Bowser said. 

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21 min(s) ago

Cardona refuses to condemn calls for universities to cut ties with Hillel in clash with lawmaker

Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Tuesday refused to condemn calls for universities to cut ties with Hillel organizations at a congressional hearing.

Cardona testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, drawing heated questions from lawmakers regarding the anti-Israel protests on college campuses.

Among the concerned lawmakers was Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., who flung a series of questions at Cardona to get him to make clear stances on certain incidents amid the uproar on college campuses due to the Gaza conflict. Before his barrage of questions, Kiley acknowledged a letter written by Cardona which entailed the secretary calling any incidents of violence and intimidation against Jewish students “abhorrent.”

“As the 2023-24 school year comes to a close, I remain incredibly concerned by the reports of antisemitic hate directed at students on some campuses,” the letter read.

Kiley tied the letter to what some would consider antisemitic demands from anti-Israel protesters for colleges to cut ties with Hillel International, which facilitates local Hillel chapters at 850 colleges globally.

Colleges and universities across the U.S. have a local Hillel community that serves as a faith-based Jewish educational resource. These organizations provide a social network and a place to develop leadership and professional skills for Jewish students.

“How about demands to cut ties with Hillel?” Kiley asked Cardona. “Do you condemn those demands to cut ties with Hillel at universities?” 

“There’s guidance there [DOE’s website] for universities where a lot of the questions you’re asking makes it very clear,” the secretary responded.

“Ok, but your letter said that certain things are abhorrent on campus. Would you say that’s one of them? Calls for universities to cut ties with Hillel, is that abhorrent, to use your word?” Kiley pressed.

“Violence toward students, antisemitism on campus which we’ve seen-” Cardona said before being cut-off mid-sentence by Kiley asking, “Mr. Secretary, you’re not willing to condemn calls to cut ties with Hillel? Will you condemn that, yes or no?” 

“We are responsible for adhering to Title 6 and enforcing it. And your support of our budget would help us get to that level instead of creating division as I said at the beginning of my call…” Cardona ducked the question again.

Fox News Digital’s Joshua Q. Nelson contributed to this update.

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BREAKING NEWS1 hour(s) ago

Kufiya and Palestinian flags removed from statue of George Washington at GWU

The statue of George Washington at George Washington University, as seen from the street. (Fox News)

The Kufiya and Palestinian flags that had defaced the statue of George Washington at his namesake university have been removed. 

Some stickers are all that remain after police cleared the ant-Israel encampment on campus early Wednesday morning. 

At least 35 people were arrested at GWU, DC police told Fox News. 

Anti-Israel agitators caused havoc in GWU’s U-Yard throughout the night and resisted police officers after they were called to restore order. 

Police finally moved onto the campus around 3:30 a.m. and used pepper spray to clear the raucous crowd.

For days, the encampment erected tents, displayed Palestinian flags and defaced a statue of the campus’ namesake, former President George Washington, with Palestinian iconography. This included adding “Free Palestine” stickers to the statue.

The anti-Israel crowd also erected an American flag with the words “Genocide Joe,” on it, showing a photo of President Biden.

On Wednesday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and police chief Pamela Smith are expected to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday to discuss the anti-Israel demonstration and potential safety concerns on the GWU campus.

The mayor’s office confirmed to Fox News Digital Tuesday that the mayor and the police chief will testify at the hearing. 

Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson and Fox News Digital’s Lawrence Richard contributed to this update.

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1 hour(s) ago

Colleges that embraced anti-Israel protests now changing their tune as encampments grow more chaotic

Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment at the University of Chicago, on Tuesday, May 7. (AP/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Anti-Israel protests linger across college campuses nationwide nearly three weeks after they first appeared at Columbia University.

In the chaotic weeks since April 18, more than 2,600 people have been arrested on 50 campuses. The protesters have said they want their schools to cut all ties with Israel over its war in Gaza. 

Administrators have shown mixed reactions with some universities like UT Austin and Emory University cracking down almost immediately, while others have shown more restraint. 

But many colleges in the latter camp have started to lose patience amid the increasing combativeness of some of the protesters. Anti-Israel agitators at a George Washington encampment for instance, have called for the “guillotine” for school administrators. 

Campuses have tried tactics from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action to resolve the protests and clear the way for upcoming commencements.

At the University of Chicago, hundreds of protesters gathered on campus for more than a week. Administrators initially adopted a permissive approach, but later said the protest had crossed a line and caused growing concerns about safety.

The protesters were warned Friday to leave or face removal. On Tuesday, law enforcement dismantled the encampment after a scuffle.

Officials at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told deans and department chairs Monday that some students have been informed by instructors opposing the suspension of student protesters that they will withhold grades.

The school provost’s office said it would support “sanctions for any instructor who is found to have improperly withheld grades.” 

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), protesters were given a deadline to voluntarily leave or face suspension. Many left, according to an MIT spokesperson, who said protesters breached fencing after the arrival of demonstrators from outside the university. On Monday night, dozens remained at the encampment in a calmer atmosphere.

MIT officials said the following day that dozens of interim suspensions and discipline committee referrals were in process, actions taken to ensure the “safety of our community.”

Some schools are still showing a permissive attitude to the protests, letting students hold demonstrations and organize their encampments as they see fit.

Those include the Rhode Island School of Design and Wesleyan University, where protests continue.  

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this update.

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1 hour(s) ago

Faculty at the University at Buffalo call for all charges to be dropped against arrested protesters

Faculty at the University at Buffalo are at odds with the administration’s response to protests that have been held on campus in recent days. 

University at Buffalo faculty are calling on administrators to drop all charges against the 15 protesters who were arrested during the May 1 demonstration on campus, NBC WGRZ reported. A letter, which has garnered over 200 signatures, was sent to University President Satish K. Tripathi, stating faculty were “deeply disturbed” by the decision “to violently escalate the peaceful protest that students organized on May 1st.”

In addition to having the charges dropped, the faculty members want the University at Buffalo to conduct a public review of university protocols tied to policing, WGRZ reported. The outlet previously reported that of the 15 demonstrators who were arrested during Wednesday’s protest, eight people were unaffiliated with UB, while seven were students.

“Around fifty protestors assembled to protest the war in Gaza and support divestment on the lawn outside Hochstetter Hall on UB’s North campus. The gathering was entirely peaceful and students were well organized,” part of the letter said. “When told that erecting tents for an encampment would lead to their arrest, students reorganized the gathering immediately to comply with the policy. Furthermore, the order that students disperse after sundown – cited as 8:22 pm by law enforcement officers at the protest – was ad hoc, dangerous and discriminatory. The official university policy barring overnight picketing and assembly does not mention sundown.”

“The sundown deadline for arrest coincided with Maghrib, Muslim evening prayer, which police seemed unaware of until informed by the protesters,” the letter added. “The rules about student protests were being updated in real time on the day of the protest, appearing discriminatory and making it difficult for even the most informed students to comply.”

Fox News Digital’s Kendall Tietz contributed to this update.

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2 hour(s) ago

Police arrest at least 64 protesters at UMass Amherst: report

Video shows anti-Israel protesters clashing with police after a large law enforcement presence on the University of Massachusetts at Amherst campus Wednesday morning in response to an anti-Israel protest that began Tuesday evening.

The UMass Students for Justice in Palestine group posted video to its Instagram account showing police rushing at a large group of protesters who were chanting, “Who do you serve? Who do you protect?”

The Daily Collegian reported at least 64 arrests, including students and faculty, as police worked to clear the encampment set up on the Student Union South Lawn. This was the second encampment formed on the UMass campus since the nationwide movement calling on colleges to divest from Israel began at Columbia University in New York City on April 17.

UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski issued a statement Tuesday afternoon calling the encampment “unauthorized” and warning that wooden barricades constructed on campus must be removed. 

At 7:20 p.m., the school’s Demonstration Response and Safety Team informed demonstrators that they have a first amendment right to free speech, but warned those present at the encampment were trespassing, according to the Daily Collegian. 

Police in riot gear reportedly entered the area around the encampment at 7:27 p.m. and began to make arrests at 7:45 p.m. 

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this update.