Rekubit Exchange:Pro-Palestinian protests stretch on after arrests, police crackdowns: Latest updates

Editor's Note: This page is Rekubit Exchangea summary of news on campus protests for Saturday, May 4. For the latest news, view our live updates file for Sunday, May 5.

At college campuses across the U.S., some students rested Saturday after police crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests and encampments. Others celebrated after striking deals with their universities to peacefully end the protests. Many encampments were still standing, stretching into days of demonstrations against Israel's war in Gaza.

On Saturday, police moved in on an encampment at the University of Virginia. Princeton University students were on their second day of a hunger strike they announced Friday to highlight the suffering of people in Gaza. And protesters briefly disrupted a graduation ceremony in Michigan.

Thousands of demonstrators have been arrested at universities in recent weeks. Some of the latest arrests happened Friday at New York University and on Thursday at Portland State University and the State University of New York at Purchase.

Students at the University of California at Riverside secured an agreement with school officials to end their encampment on Friday. The university pledged to disclose its investments and review those with ties to Israel. The day before, students at Rutgers also reached a deal with the school to end their protest.

Other demonstrators are demanding similar actions from their schools, while also protesting the U.S.' financial support toward Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which has thus far led to the deaths of over 34,600 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The war began after Hamas militants invaded southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage.

Protesters interrupt University of Michigan commencement

University of Michigan students interrupted commencement with a pro-Palestinian protest Saturday, but there were no reports of arrests.

The Saturday commencement began at 10 a.m. at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. During the university's commencement livestream, a disruption can be heard while U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro delivered remarks. Del Toro paused twice during the protest and acknowledged the importance of free speech and peaceful protests as American values during his remarks.

"It is indeed these young men and women who will protect the freedoms that we so cherish as Americans in our Constitution of the United States, which includes the right to protest peacefully," Del Toro said.

Several graduating students could be seen wearing keffiyehs, a Palestinian scarf with a black-and-white fishnet pattern, and Palestinian flags during the ceremony.

The university had anticipated the potential for protests, and said it would intervene to de-escalate if any protests "significantly impede" the ceremonies, according to the University of Michigan commencement website.

"Commencement ceremonies have been the site of free expression and peaceful protest for decades and will likely continue to be," the website stated. "The University of Michigan does not attempt to prevent peaceful protests or other speech protected under the First Amendment. Many ceremonies will have a designated area for protests outside the venue."

-Jenna Prestininzi, the Detroit Free Press

Police work to dismantle University of Virginia encampment

Dozens of police officers moved in on an encampment at the University of Virginia on Saturday just before 3 p.m. In a livestream by Charlottesville station WVIR, officers could be seen detaining multiple people and dismantling the camp. They tossed chairs and umbrellas aside and took down larger tents as many onlookers chanted "Shame."

The officers began assembling on campus earlier Saturday and encircled demonstrators after declaring an unlawful assembly. They announced that protesters would have to leave or face arrest. Officers could be seen dragging at least one protester and escorting others off the lawn near the school's Rotunda.

The encampment, which included about 20 people and tents, has been on campus grounds since Tuesday, and a crowd of a few hundred supporters and other onlookers assembled at the site Saturday, CBS 19 reported.

Where things stand with major campus protests

• Columbia University:Police conducted sweeping arrests on Tuesday evening of protesters who had entered and occupied the Hamilton Hall building and cleared the large encampment on part of the campus lawn, which had become the model for encampments that sprang up across the country since initial arrests at Columbia on April 18. The New York Police Department revealed Friday that an officer accidentally fired a gun on campus while police were clearing Hamilton Hall. This week the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation into Columbia's alleged mistreatment of Palestinian students and allies.
• UCLA: One of the largest protest encampments was dismantled this week at the University of California at Los Angeles. Police in riot gear arrested more than 200 people Thursday morning. The arrests came after counter-protesters earlier in the week attacked the camp with weapons and pepper spray. No arrests of counter-protesters were announced. The university said in a statement that normal campus operations will "resume in full" on Monday.
• NYU: Over a dozen people were arrested at New York University on Friday in a police raid on the encampment there, but students and supporters were back later for a rally. The same day, faculty picketed outside the school in support of student protesters.

Columbia president urges rebuilding of community on campus

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who has been embroiled in criticism from many among her own faculty and students over her decision to bring police on campus, said in a video statement on Friday that "despite all that has happened, I have confidence" the university can rebuild its community.

She said many encampment protesters were peaceful and cared about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but those who broke into and occupied Hamilton Hall committed "a violent act that put our students at risk as well as putting the protesters at risk."

Shafik said the community must feel safe and welcome on campus.

"We have a lot to do, but I am committed to working at it every day and with each of you to rebuild community on our campus," Shafik said.

Solidarity encampments spring up around the world

Students in Ireland and Switzerland are among the latest around the globe to erect pro-Palestinian encampments.

At Trinity College Dublin, university officials restricted access to campus and a top tourist attraction on Saturday in response to the protest that launched Friday, demanding the school cut academic and financial ties with Israel. The Book of Kells exhibit, an illuminated manuscript created by Celtic monks in about 800 AD that draws tourists to campus, was closed.

Lausanne University in Switzerland saw about 100 people occupy a building on campus, which the university said could remain until Monday as long as it didn't disrupt work on campus.

Contributing: Reuters