KUALA LUMPUR – More than 100 people have been arrested at two campuses in California and Texas as pro-Palestine protests erupted across US universities this week.
Some 93 people at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Los Angeles campus were hauled in by police for trespassing.
Another 34 were detained after a stand-off at the University of Texas in Austin, reported AFP.
Many of the clashes saw students with placards and banners going head-on with police in riot gear.
USC tweeted that although the protest ended, the campus would remain “closed until further notice”.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles police department said officers would continue to patrol the area for another day.
The pro-Palestine protests started last week at Columbia University in New York, where dozens were arrested for camping out on campus grounds and disrupting activities.
Last Sunday, US President Joe Biden slammed the protests, saying “blatant anti-Semitism” had no place in university campuses even though he reiterated his support for freedom of speech.
So far, Gaza’s health ministry reported that the death toll has topped 34,305 since the Israeli siege on the Palestinian enclave following the Hamas attack on Israel last October. – April 25, 2024