Tensions flared at UVA’s campus in Charlottesville, where protests had been largely peaceful until Saturday morning, when police officers in riot gear were seen in a video moving on an encampment on the campus’ lawn, cuffing some demonstrators with zip-ties and using what appeared to be chemical spray.
The University of Virginia said in a news release that protesters had violated several university policies including setting up tents on Friday night and using amplified sound.
Jim Ryan, UVA’s president, wrote in a message that officials had learned that “individuals unaffiliated with the university” who presented “some safety concerns” had joined protesters on campus.
Dozens of people were arrested for criminal trespass outside the Art Institute of Chicago at a demonstration on Saturday after the institute called in police to remove protesters it said were illegally occupying its property, the Chicago Police Department said on X.
Pro-Palestine protesters briefly disrupted a commencement ceremony at the University of Michigan on Saturday while demonstrators faced off with police at the University of Virginia as US colleges braced for more turmoil during graduation festivities, Reuters reports.
Videos shared on social media showed dozens of students wearing the traditional keffiyeh headdress and graduation caps and waving Palestinian flags as they walked down the centre aisle of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, among cheers and boos from a crowd of thousands.
The ceremony continued and campus police escorted the protesters toward the back of the stadium, but no arrests were made, according to Colleen Mastony, a spokesperson for the university.
“Peaceful protests like this have taken place at U-M commencement ceremonies for decades,” Mastony said in a statement. “The university supports free speech and expression, and university leaders are pleased that today’s commencement was such a proud and triumphant moment.”
Police have so far arrested over 2,000 protesters at colleges around the country.
Students at Trinity College Dublin and Lausanne University in Switzerland have staged occupations to protest against Israel's war in Gaza, joining a wave of demonstrations sweeping U.S. campuses.
In Dublin, students built an encampment on Friday that forced the university to restrict campus access on Saturday and close the Book of Kells exhibition, one of Ireland's top tourist attractions.
The camp was set up after the students' union said it had been fined 214,000 euros ($230,000) by the university for losses caused by protests in recent months, not exclusively over Gaza. The protesters were demanding that Trinity cut academic ties with Israel and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
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Students' union president Laszlo Molnarfia posted a photograph of benches piled up at the entrance to the building housing the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript created by Celtic monks in about 800 AD.
Trinity College said it had restricted access to students, staff and residents to ensure safety, and that the exhibition would be closed on Saturday.
More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s seven-month-old assault on the Gaza Strip, say health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
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Pro-Palestinian protests have also been held at universities in Australia and Canada.
In Lausanne, around 100 students occupied a building to back demands including an end to scientific cooperation with Israel.
"Palestinians have been dying for over 200 days, but we're not being heard," one protester told Swiss television on Saturday.
"Now there's a global movement to get governments to take action, but it's not happening. That's why we want to get universities involved now."
The university said the occupation could continue until Monday provided it did not disrupt work on campus.
"We universities are not called upon to take political stands," the university's rector, Frederic Herman, told RTS radio. Last week, the head of Trinity College, Linda Doyle, said it was reviewing its investments but that it was for individual academics to decide whether to work with Israeli institutions.
