Police dismantled tents and arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania on Friday morning, in the latest security crackdown on protests spreading across U.S. universities. According to a report by a student newspaper, armed Philadelphia police officers, equipped with riot gear, removed journalists from the camp at the University of Pennsylvania before dismantling the tents and throwing the protesters' belongings into a garbage truck. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Safety stated that "approximately 33 individuals were arrested."
Similar incidents occurred simultaneously at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology near Boston. Student journalists reported that riot police arrested at least 10 protesting students before dismantling tents and removing their belongings.
The early morning raids are the latest efforts by educational institutions and local authorities to end such protests across dozens of universities nationwide. Students have called for a ceasefire in the campaign waged by Israel on Gaza and demanded that educational institutions divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Many university leaders have stated that the protest camps threaten safety and have sought to end them before graduation ceremonies in May, which attract large numbers of visitors to campuses. Sally Kornbluth, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, stated in a statement on Friday: "The police arrested peacefully ten individuals today, but the arrests came after clashes escalated between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel supporters." She added: "It was not proceeding in a direction that anyone could describe as peaceful. The cost and disruption to the community at large has made the situation increasingly unacceptable."
Interim President of the University of Pennsylvania, J. Larry Jameson, stated in a statement on Monday that "with the camp present, the campus becomes less safe every day," citing reports of harassment, verbal threats, and vandalism of campus property.
Since the first mass arrests at Columbia University in New York on April 18, at least 2,600 protesters have been arrested in over 100 protests across 39 states and Washington, D.C., according to the nonprofit news organization "The Appeal." Some police experts state that such widespread arrests could backfire, as they fuel protests rather than deter them.
