College protest live updates: Nearly 300 arrested at Columbia and CUNY, UCLA cancels classes, as campus demonstrations intensify

Arrests at Fordham Wednesday afternoon as police continue clearing encampments

Pro-Palestinian supporters climb a fence during demonstrations at The City College Of New York as the NYPD cracks down on protest camps at both Columbia University and CCNY on April 30, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Pro-Palestinian supporters climb a fence during demonstrations at The City College Of New York as the NYPD cracks down on protest camps at both Columbia University and CCNY on April 30, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

It's been nearly two weeks since police were called in to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University. Since then, a movement calling for universities to divest financial support for Israel has spread to dozens of campuses across America.

The protests often feature tent cities established in green spaces and common areas, and have been largely peaceful — though not always. Hundreds of arrests have been made and skirmishes have broken out between police and demonstrators as college leaders seek to clear the spaces and quell the outcry. Commencements have been canceled, remote classes instituted and access to campus has been restricted.

In a sign of escalating tensions, police forcefully evicted protesters who had occupied Hamilton Hall on Columbia's Manhattan campus and at City College of New York in Harlem overnight, taking nearly 300 into custody. Meanwhile, at the University of California, Los Angeles, tensions between dueling groups of protesters erupted in violent clashes early Wednesday morning. There have also been signs of reconciliation, with protesters and administrators at Northwestern and Brown reaching agreements.

Despite the pressure, the protests remain active and seemingly grow by the day. Below, get the latest updates on this fast-moving story from Yahoo News:

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER54 updates
  • Where things stand

    Over the past 24 hours, police arrested hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters at college campuses across the country. Here's the latest on where things stand as night fell on the East Coast.

    More: Pro-Palestinian protests intensify across U.S. college campuses. Here's where things stand.

  • Fordham University asks NYPD to remain on campus until May 22

    On Wednesday, New York police cleared pro-Palestinian protesters from a building on the Fordham University Lincoln Center campus, making at least 15 arrests and clearing an encampment.

    The school also asked the NYPD to remain on the campus until May 22:

    "With the utmost regret, we request the NYPD's help to clear all individuals from the encampment. As part of this process, we understand that the NYPD plans to use amplifying devices to inform participants in the encampments they must disperse," a letter from the school to NYPD's deputy commissioner of legal matters stated. "In light of the activities that are currently happening, we further request that you retain a presence on campus through at least May 22, 2024 (when Commencement and diploma ceremonies are completed) to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished."

  • Video shows police arriving at Fordham University

    A video posted by the New York Post showed police arriving at Fordham University at Lincoln Center to break up an encampment that protesters had set up in a campus building.

    Police reportedly made as many as 15 arrests.

  • 'Several' protesters arrested at University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Police cited 30 pro-Palestinian protesters and arrested "several" more on Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after moving in to clear a tent encampment on the campus.

    "This morning, those present at the encampment were given several warnings during which time they were offered the opportunity to peacefully leave the encampment with their belongings and avoid being either cited or arrested. These warnings followed prior communications, including two messages from campus leaders, that clearly delineated the expectation of consequences if the encampment was not removed," Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin said in a letter to the campus community, according to CNN.

  • Police reportedly arrest 15 protesters at Fordham University, clear encampment

    New York City police arrested at least 15 pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the campus of Fordham University Wednesday evening and dismantled a tent encampment, WABC-TV reported.

    NYPD arrived at the campus in riot gear Wednesday afternoon, and quickly sought to push the protesters back using barricades.

    Video from the scene showed protesters hanging tarps outside a university building as a crowd cheered them on.

  • Officials: 15 injured during violent clashes at UCLA, 1 person hospitalized

    Fifteen people were injured during Tuesday's violent clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators at UCLA, according to Los Angeles officials. One of those injured was hospitalized.

    The Los Angeles Fire Department told CNN that a man in his 20s suffered a head injury during the incident, which lasted for hours before police cleared the scene. The man was transported to the hospital.

  • Police swarm Fordham University at Lincoln Center

    Yahoo News reporter Katie Mather is at Fordham University at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of New York City, where protests were unfolding on Wednesday evening.

    NYPD officers were seen wearing helmets and walking around with zip-tie handcuffs.

    At West 62nd Street near the school, chants were heard: "I don't see no violence here, why are you wearing riot gear?"

    About a dozen police officers stand on one side of a barricade at Fordham University. Two protesters stand facing them on the other side of the barricade.
    Police at Fordham University in New York City. (Katie Mather/Yahoo News)
    About 20 police officers walk in the street outside a Fordham building.
    Katie Mather/Yahoo News
    About 20 officers stand between a barricade and the front of a Fordham building.
    Katie Mather/Yahoo News
    (Katie Mather/Yahoo News)
    Katie Mather/Yahoo News
  • University of California president launches investigation following violent clashes at UCLA

    University of California President Michael Drake announced Wednesday that he was launching an investigation of the violent clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters on the UCLA campus Tuesday night and the response from university officials and police.

    “I believe such a review can address many of my immediate questions but also help guide us for possible future events,” he wrote in a letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

    Los Angeles police cleared the campus of protesters around 3 a.m., hours after the violence began.

    Read more from the Los Angeles Times.

  • University of Minnesota president had 'constructive dialogue' with protesters

    Students gather in protest over the Israel-Hamas war at the University of Minnesota.
    Hundreds of students gather in protest on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis on Monday. (Trisha Ahmed/AP)

    University of Minnesota interim president Jeff Ettinger met with student protest leaders on Wednesday as demonstrations on the Twin Cities campus continued for a third day.

    The pro-Palestinian protesters are demanding the school divest from companies that do business in Israel and release a statement that supports Palestinian students.

    The 30-minute meeting turned into 90 minutes because it was a “constructive dialogue,” Ettinger said.

    “Both those involved with the protest and our university leaders need to go back and discuss possible outcomes from today’s meeting with our colleagues,” he added. “When we have updates to share, we will provide those.”

  • A UCLA senior worries about possible commencement cancellation 4 years after his high school graduation was upended by COVID

    The undergraduate class of 2024 is the same class that graduated high school during the pandemic in 2020. The Wall Street Journal calls it “the class that missed out on fun.”

    UCLA senior Preston, who asked to go only by his first name, told Yahoo News that he hopes his commencement ceremony doesn’t get canceled. Law enforcement was called to UCLA’s campus Tuesday night as violence erupted among pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. The university canceled all of its classes on Wednesday out of concern for student safety.

    Preston said he would be frustrated with the UCLA administration and the protesters if graduation were canceled. The ceremony is scheduled for June 14.

    “I personally hope that commencement doesn’t get canceled considering how my high school graduation went during COVID,” he said.

  • House passes bipartisan antisemitism bill

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to pass the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act.

    It comes as pro-Palestinian demonstrations escalate across U.S. university campuses, with great concerns intensifying over antisemitism. The bill would require the Department of Education to use an antisemitism definition put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance when the department enforces federal anti-discrimination laws.

    It now heads to the Senate for consideration.

    Republican Sen. Tim Scott, who championed the bill with GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, called it a "momentous step towards rooting out antisemitic hate and protecting the rights of Jewish students on college campuses across America."

  • Protesters gather in Manhattan's Foley Square

    A huge crowd of protesters gathered in lower Manhattan's Foley Square late Wednesday afternoon in solidarity with Palestinians as part of a May Day event.

    New York City's official emergency notification system is warning New Yorkers to prepare for traffic delays near the area.

    "Protest Activity: Expect traffic delays & emergency personnel near Foley Square and Broadway, Manhattan. Use alternate routes," emergency officials said in a post on X.

  • Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg says his office is reviewing Columbia and City College cases

    In a Wednesday press conference, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that the estimated 280 arrests occurring Tuesday night at Columbia University and City College were being reviewed by his office.

    "We will look carefully at each individual case on our docket and make decisions based on the facts and the law," Bragg said. "That will include a thorough review of body cam footage and interviews with witnesses."

    Bragg said the cases included about 170 court summons, while the remaining cases were either desk appearance tickets or cases that are "making their way through the system."

  • 50 protesters leave occupied Portland State University library

    Although negotiations with pro-Palestinian student protesters at Portland State University reportedly fell through, local NBC affiliate KGW reports that around 50 people left the building on their own.

    University president Ann Cudd said that negotiators for the students indicated they'd leave the library by 1:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday. In return, Cudd promised to not suspend, expel or press criminal charges against the occupants — as well as agreed to meet with student leaders on May 17. However, this proposed compromise wasn't agreed upon.

    "I fervently wish that the students in the library had signed on to our agreement, but, after their negotiators told us they had a deal, they apparently chose not to sign," Cudd said.

    Other protesters — including nonstudents — are still at the library, she added.

  • Iranian university offers scholarships to students expelled due to protesting

    Shiraz University, located in southern Iran, says it will offer scholarships to students from the United States and Europe who've been expelled due to protests over conflicts in the Middle East, according to CNN.

    “Students and even professors who have been expelled or threatened with expulsion can continue their studies in Shiraz University,” Shiraz University President Mohammad Moreno said, per the news channel. “I think that other universities in Shiraz and Fars province are prepared to do the same too.”

  • Fordham University encampment protesters say they have been suspended

    Pro-Palestinian student demonstrators who set up a small encampment on Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus say they have been suspended.

    The Fordham Observer posted a photo on X of a protester brandishing the notice of suspension through a window of the Lowenstein Building.

  • Newsom calls 'limited and delayed' law enforcement response to UCLA violence 'unacceptable'

    Demonstrators clash at an encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
    Demonstrators clash at an encampment at UCLA early Wednesday. (Ethan Swope/AP)

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom is demanding answers to what he called a "limited and delayed" response from UCLA's campus police after violence overnight.

    The violence escalated after counterprotesters set up a camp near protesters. Videos circulating on X showed counterprotesters assaulting, using pepper spray and throwing objects at protesters, as well as tearing up their encampment.

    Social media users questioned where UCLA's campus police were, as videos appeared to show, notably absent. UCLA had said on Tuesday evening that they had "significantly" increased their security presence, but KABC reported that violence lasted for hours without police intervention.

    “As soon as it became clear that state assistance was needed to support a local response, our office immediately deployed CHP personnel to campus," Newsom's office said in a statement posted on X.

    "The Governor's Office of Emergency Services has been coordinating law enforcement mutual aid requests statewide, including responding for assistance at UCLA throughout the night and early morning," his office added.

    "The state has established a robust Law Enforcement Mutual Aid System to provide law enforcement assistance to college campuses when requested during incidents beyond the capacity of local and campus police."

  • Why Biden has been quiet on the arrests

    White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre, in a sky blue dress, speaks at the podium during a briefing at the White House.
    White House press secretary Jean-Pierre at the White House Wednesday. (Evan Vucci/AP)

    During her briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked repeatedly why President Biden has yet to comment directly on the arrests and protests at Columbia University and other schools across the country. She said Biden was monitoring the situation, but she quickly pivoted, saying that over the years the president has spoken out strongly against antisemitism.

    There could be another reason for Biden's silence, Peter Baker points out in the New York Times: He has never been big on protests. Biden was studying law at Syracuse University in 1968 when the antiwar protests erupted at Columbia and across the country, and he did not join them.

    "Now, 56 years to the day after the police stormed Hamilton Hall to evict demonstrators in one of the most iconic moments of the 1960s protest movement, Biden has no more affinity for their modern-day successors rousted by officers from the same university building they had seized to voice outrage over Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip," Baker notes. "As the political far left calls him 'Genocide Joe' and Republicans blame him for the campus chaos, the president has sought to stay personally out of the fray as much as possible."

    But Biden "cannot simply shrug off the uproar on American college campuses as he once could," Baker argues. "This time he is not just a disdainful bystander but one of the targets of the discontent, challenging him to navigate the treacherous waters of campus politics better than Lyndon B. Johnson did in 1968."

  • California Gov. Newsom condemns UCLA violence

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom denounced the overnight violence between counterprotesters and protesters on UCLA's campus. Newsom called for people engaging in "illegal behavior" to be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution, according to a statement posted on X.

    "I condemn the violence at UCLA last night. The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus. Those who engage in illegal behavior must be held accountable for their actions — including through criminal prosecution, suspension, or expulsion," the statement read.

  • Protesters occupy the library at Portland State University

    Protesters are occupying the library at Portland State University, even after the school closed the campus for the day, according to the Washington Post. There have been protests for several days on campus, causing the shutdown.

    University president Ann Cudd recorded a video message to the protesters inside the library, telling them that the school had asked the Portland Bureau of Police to help remove them from the building.

    "We want you to come out of the library," Cudd said in the video, per the Post. "I'm asking you to please — especially the students — please, voluntarily leave the library."