At least 16 arrested at Yale after police storm campus during pro-Palestine protest

At least 16 people have been arrested at Yale University after riot police stormed the campus during a pro-Palestinian protest.

The arrests happened after nearly pro-Palestine 200 protestors gathered on campus to urge Yale to divest from military weapons manufacturers, the independent Yale Daily News reported on Monday morning.

The protestors had been camped out on Beinecke Plaza on Yale University’s campus for three days.

Cops first began by warning protestors they risked being arrested if they didn’t clear out before cuffing and arresting a handful of people – including students, according to Yale Daily News.

Those arrested were then hauled away on Yale University shuttle buses.

Journalists from the Yale Daily News were also threatened with arrest if they did not move from the plaza, according to its reports.

The campus of Yale University on April 16, 2008 in New Haven, Connecticut (Getty Images)

Video footage from the demonstration posted to X showed a group of protestors locking arms around a flag pole as police descended on the campus.

The protestors could be heard singing “We shall not be moved” as officers checked the dozens of tents erected in the plaza and blocked entrances to the campus.

They could also be heard chanting “We will free Palestine within our lifetime” and “Books not bombs,” according to reports.

The protestors are being charged with trespassing in the first degree, Yale Daily News reported.

Yale president Peter Salovey previously sent students an email late on Sunday warning the school “will pursue disciplinary actions according to its policies” amid ongoing demonstrations.

“Many of the students participating in the protests, including those conducting counterprotests, have done so peacefully. However, I am aware of reports of egregious behavior, such as intimidation and harassment, pushing those in crowds, removal of the plaza flag, and other harmful acts,” he wrote.

“Yale does not tolerate actions, including remarks, that threaten, harass, or intimidate members of the university’s Jewish, Muslim, and other communities,” he continued.

It comes after more than 100 protesters were cuffed and hauled away when the NYPD was called in to clear out a similar protest at Columbia University last week.

Student demonstrators had been demanding that the university divest from “companies complicit in genocide” when police stormed onto the campus and arrested more than 100 people before dismantling the protest camp.

The daughter of Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Isra Hirsi, was among those arrested. She was later suspended from the university.

“In my 3 years at @BarnardCollege I have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings,” Isra Hirsi, who is an organiser for Columbia University’s Apartheid Divest group, wrote on X.

“I just received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.”

She continued: “Those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated. We will stand resolute until our demands are met.

“Our demands include divestment from companies complicit in genocide, transparency of @Columbia’s investments and FULL amnesty for all students facing repression.”

Police said 108 people, including Ms Hirsi, were charged with trespassing at the private Ivy League institution. Two people were also charged with obstructing government administration.

Following the arrests, the university announced on Monday that classes would be held virtually and asked students, faculty and staff to avoid campus if possible.

Tensions at many US universities have been high ever since the October 7 terror attack on Israel by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent war on Hamas in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

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