Police arrest 130 at UMass Amherst; College says protesters refused to take down encampment
AMHERST - Police arrested about 130 people at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Tuesday night after the college says pro-Palestinian protesters refused to take down an encampment on campus and leave the area.
The tent encampment on the South Lawn of the Student Union is the second encampment to form on the Amherst campus this semester, The Daily Collegian student newspaper reported. Tent encampments inspired by protesters at Columbia University have popped up on college campuses in Massachusetts and around the country.
Protest organizers in Amherst told WBZ-TV that their demonstration was in response to Israel seizing the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. A senior Biden administration official told CBS News that the White House position has been that Israel "should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah," where 1.3 million Palestinians are currently located.
Protesters report injuries after arrests
Student protest organizer Malia Cole said students were handcuffed, thrown in the back of police vans, arrested and charged. She claimed some even suffered injuries.
"You brutalized your own students last night for peacefully protesting," said Cole, addressing University Chancellor Javier Reyes. "Their hands going numb from the cuffs being too tight, to rashes on their hands and stomachs from being thrown to the ground."
The school has not confirmed any injuries but did release a statement Wednesday saying roughly 130 students were arrested for illegal encampments only after verbal negotiations failed. Both state and campus police responded.
"While we have told demonstrators that failure to remove the tents and barriers may result in arrests, this is not the outcome we had hoped for," said Reyes in a statement.
"You are a disgrace of a human being, you are a disgrace to the history of this university and you need to resign immediately," said Cole.
ACLU criticizes universities calling in armed police
After these videos surfaced, the ACLU of Massachusetts responded, condemning the universities' use of police officers. "Calling heavily armed police on student political expression is an inherently dangerous choice," said Carol Rose, the executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, in a statement.
"A wise college president tries to diffuse these situations without calling in police," said former ACLU of Massachusetts Board President Harvey Silverglate. He said despite the tactics, the arrests were warranted. "You cannot disrupt what's going on on the campus. You can be dealt with by law enforcement."
UMass chancellor asked police to intervene
UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes said in a message to the college that he asked campus police to disperse the crowd and dismantle the encampment after protesters "rejected our offers for continued civil discourse."
"Let me be clear - involving law enforcement is the absolute last resort," Reyes said. "It saddens me to send this message tonight, but I am hopeful that our campus community will persevere to find common ground and come together in these challenging times."
Reyes said that during an earlier meeting on Tuesday, he told protesters that the Board of Trustees would consider a call for divestment from defense-related firms. He said the students rejected the offer.
Will student protesters face school discipline?
A statement from UMass did not say if the arrested students could face discipline from the school.
Elsewhere in the state, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Tuesday that "dozens of interim suspensions" are underway after protesters tore down a fence around an encampment there. MIT president Sally Kornbluth had warned students that they could face immediate suspension and be banned from graduation ceremonies if they did not leave the encampment.
"The thing is, people do have to walk in between there to get to their classes," said UMass senior Will Franczak. He said he's disappointed in the disruption, hoping protests end soon, with graduation around the corner. "I want to graduate on time. I support the cause but I don't want protesters ruining the graduation or interfering with it."
