At least 200 people were arrested at the University of California, Los Angeles, bringing the total number of arrests nationwide to over 2000 across dozens of university campuses since the police dispersed a sit-in at Columbia University in mid-April, according to an Associated Press tally. Protests—and arrests—occurred in nearly every corner of the United States. However, in the past 24 hours, the most attention was drawn to UCLA, where chaotic scenes erupted early Thursday when officers in riot gear clashed with a crowd of demonstrators.
The protests at university campuses began on April 17 in response to the Israeli assault on Gaza, following Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7. The militants killed around 1200 people—mostly civilians—and took nearly 250 hostages. Israel pledged to eradicate Hamas, killing over 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry there.
Regarding the protests, U.S. President Joe Biden stated that they would not force him to reconsider his policies in the region amidst the ongoing university protests linked to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. In a televised speech from the White House, Biden, who had remained silent for a long time regarding these movements, asserted that there is "no place" for anti-Semitism in American universities, while also emphasizing that the U.S. "is not a nation that silences people."
Biden continued: "The rule of law must be respected, we do not support oppression, we believe in freedom of expression, and there is a right to protest, but not to incite chaos." The American president deemed property destruction and threatening people as not being peaceful protests but rather illegal actions, stressing that protests must occur without violence, destruction, or hatred, and within the law.
