Nearly 2,500 held at pro-palestinian rallies across US

Nearly 2,500 people have been arrested at proPalestinian rallies at college and university campuses across the US, according to media outlets.

In a report released on Sunday by CNN, the number of arrests made since April 18 has surpassed 2,200, while the numbers released in a similar report by Fox News show the total of arrests to be more than 2,400.

Demonstrations are expected to continue over the coming weeks as graduation ceremonies take place, and campus officials are adding extra police security, or in some cases, cancelling commencement ceremonies altogether.

In the state of California, police in Los Angeles cleared out a protest encampment at the University of Southern California (USC) on Sunday, but no arrests were made. In addition, USC has called off its main graduation ceremony due to security concerns.

“The Los Angeles Police Department is clearing the centre of UPC (University Park Campus). If you are in the centre of campus, please leave. People who don’t leave could be arrested,” the university said on X.

As part of the intervention, police removed some students taking part in the demonstrations from the campus centre. They evacuated the encampment area and also removed the tents.

“The encampment at UPC has been cleared. The campus remains closed,” USC added on X.

Pro-palestinian supporters clashed with counter-protesters on Sunday at Chicago’s Depaul University in the state of Illinois. Police did not make any arrests, but there were reports of several people getting injured as the situation transpired.

In the state of Virginia, 25 protesters were arrested at a pro-palestinian rally at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Saturday. Police cleared out a tent encampment set up by students after declaring an unlawful assembly near the centre of campus.

Also on Saturday, in the state of Michigan, police removed a group of pro-palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan’s main commencement in Ann Arbor which briefly interrupted the ceremony, but no arrests were made.

April 30 saw the largest number of arrests in a single day, with more than 400 made at college campuses. The majority of those arrests (282) happened at Columbia University in the state of New York.