US police detain driver who accelerated car towards Portland State University protesters
https://apnews.com/article/portland-state-protest-car-driver-detained-ad2a16f13a4a2a5986da0f485d33b8be
Police in Portland said they detained a driver who accelerated his vehicle towards pro-Palestine demonstrators on the campus of Portland State University in Oregon and then ran off spraying what appeared to be pepper spray towards those who confronted him after the incident.
People screamed as the vehicle accelerated towards the crowd, The Associated Press news agency reports, but the driver braked at the last minute.
The driver then exited his vehicle and fled while aiming what appeared to be pepper spray towards those trying to catch him.
Police said they found the driver later and he was taken to hospital on a police mental health detention order.
Demonstrators later damaged the car, smashing in windows and spray painting “Free Gaza” on it.
A car that attempted to drive through a crowd of pro-Palestine protesters on the Portland State University campus is seen parked and damaged on a campus walkway on May 2,
Damaging property is not right, why did the police not tow away and impound the car after arresting the driver??
Big police presence there, no cops around where this happened....
US police officer fired gun during operation at Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall
A New York police officer fired his gun while inside Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall during an operation to clear antiwar protesters, a spokesperson for district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has confirmed.
The spokesperson, Doug Cohen, said no one was injured and that other police officers but not students were in the immediate vicinity at the time.
A review of the incident is being conducted, The Associated Press news agency reports, while the New York Police Department did not immediately comment on the incident.
More than 100 protesters were taken into custody when police stormed the university’s Hamilton Hall on Tuesday, which had been occupied for more than 20 hours by pro-Palestine protesters who renamed the building Hind’s Hall in memory of the six-year-old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, who was slain by Israeli forces in Gaza in January along with six family members.
Police arrests at US antiwar campus protests near 2,200: Report
The Associated Press (AP) news agency reports that police have arrested almost 2,200 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States in recent weeks.
The AP calculated the arrest figure based on reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
There have been at least 56 incidents of arrest at 43 different US colleges or universities since April 18, the news agency said.
I imagine these police operations and prosecution of 2,200 students costs a lot more than any 'damage' the protesters cause.
Demonstrators at New Jersey’s Rutgers University dismantle camp after deal
Protesting students at Rutgers University in New Jersey have dismantled their encampment after reaching a deal with campus administrators. Earlier on Thursday, the pro-Palestine protesters were given a deadline to clear the area.
Demonstrators say university officials agreed to support Palestinian students and consider divesting from Israel. The protests forced Rutgers to postpone finals exams.
US students’ pro-Palestine movement shows ‘generational shift’
The pro-Palestine protests sweeping US universities mark a “real generational shift” that could herald a “reckoning” of the US’s relationship with Israel, says Mohamed Elmasry, media studies professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
“This is the first time the Palestinian cause has become a domestic issue in the United States. It’s become more or less mainstream,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera.
“It’s not just Arab or Palestinian or Muslim students who are protesting on behalf of the Palestinian cause, but you have organisations like Jewish Voice for Peace, you have Black Lives Matter activists, you have Latino and Hispanic activist groups and many others.”
The growing protest movement, if its momentum continues, has the potential to “significantly” alter the US’s long-term relationship with Israel, Elmasry said.
“The United States is going through a kind of reckoning right now with the state of Israel and with Zionism more broadly. For the first time in the decades-long history of this relationship, millions of Americans are starting to ask why does the United States support Israel to the extent that it does,” he said.
“I think you will start to see changes… these young people are the future.”
Scream protest at Columbia University president’s house
Hundreds of students at Columbia University, the genesis of the pro-Palestine protest movement that has rippled across US universities, have gathered outside the home of their university president, Minouche Shafik, in protest.
The protesters blame Shafik for suspending students and authorising a police raid to crack down on their pro-Palestine demonstrations.
Police move in to clear out NYU encampment: Report
New York police have swept into a pro-Palestine encampment at the city’s New York University (NYU) and started to clear out protesters, following a request for police intervention from the university.
NBC News, citing aerial pictures of the police operation, said there were “no apparent signs of resistance”.
Police made dozens of arrests at NYU and the nearby New School, adding to more than 2,000 arrests of students engaged in pro-Palestine demonstrations nationwide.
