Tear gas, pepper spray used on Gaza war protesters at US university, 25 arrested

At least 25 people were arrested during a clash between pro-Palestine protesters and the police at the University of Virginia in the US after the demonstrators refused to remove their tents from the campus. The university located in Charlottesville said the police had to “declare an unlawful assembly” at the protest site due to “violent conduct and failure to follow police directions”.

This latest development comes as more than 2,000 people have been arrested in the US since mid-April for staging protests at college and university campus across the nation against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Dozens of Virginia State Police officers in riot gear surrounded the student encampment area on Saturday and used a chemical spray to disperse the protesters from the area. Protesting students alleged pepper spray and tear gas were used on them.

In a tweet on Sunday morning, the university said, “A pro-Palestinian protest ended on Grounds Saturday after University, local and state police cleared the area. This followed repeated policy violations. Violent conduct and failure to follow police directions led officers to declare an unlawful assembly.”

The university also said that it was awaiting confirmation on how many of the 25 arrested individuals were affiliated with the school.

On May 7, the students launched their protest on a lawn outside the university chapel. On Saturday, however, they refused to remove their encampments despite repeated requests by the university authorities.

Soon thereafter, state police troopers wearing heavy riot gear and holding shields lined up on the campus, while the defiant protesters chanted slogans like “shame on you” and “free Palestine”.

A video on social media shows police officers moving in on the encampment on the campus’ lawn, cuffing some demonstrators with zip-ties and using what appeared to be pepper spray.

Speaking to The Washington Post, Laura Goldblatt, an assistant professor of English and global studies, said the protesting students were pushed to the ground as soon as the police moved in. She said the students were “sprayed with a chemical irritant” and forcibly pulled by their arms.

“Our concern since this began has been the safety of our students. Students are not safe right now,” Goldblatt said.

In a statement, the University of Virginia said the Virginia State Police were asked to help with enforcement as the tents and canopies erected by the protesters were “prohibited under school policy” and were asked to remove them.

University of Virginia president James E. Ryan said the protesters “complied with requests to adhere to university policies, including a long-standing prohibition on erecting tents absent a permit” until Friday evening.

But on Saturday morning, when the University Police Department “offered a final warning to the protesters, reminding them once again of their University policy violations and pleading for a peaceful resolution. That request was ignored”, he said in a letter to the student community.

When the department’s “attempts to resolve the situation were met with physical confrontation and attempted assault, it became necessary to rely on assistance from the Virginia State Police”, Ryan noted.

“The police declared an unlawful assembly, issued no trespass orders to those who refused to disperse, and arrested those who continued to refuse dispersal,” he added.

Besides the arrests at the University of Virginia, dozens of people were taken into custody for criminal trespass outside the Art Institute of Chicago at a demonstration, reports Reuters news agency.

The arrests occurred after the institute called in police to remove protesters it said were illegally occupying its property, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Meanwhile, at Ann Arbor, pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted a commencement ceremony at the University of Michigan.

Protests against the war in Gaza have rocked college and universities across the US for weeks now. The protesters have demanded their institutes to divest from companies that support Israel’s government, and have also called on President Joe Biden to do more to stop the raging conflict.