Anti-Israel campus protests continue as police clear encampments, make arrests

A second pro-Palestine protest erupts during the UC Berkeley Law School commencement at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, Calif. Friday, May 10, 2024. (Photo by Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

UC Berkeley's campus-wide commencement ceremony was interrupted on Saturday morning when a large group of anti-Israel protesters began loudly chanting.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the protest included hundreds of demonstrators. The majority of protesters were graduating students, wearing their caps and gowns. Graduating UC Berkeley Law students also protested their graduation ceremony on Friday.

Sydney Roberts, president of the Associated Students of the University of California, was addressing the graduates when her speech was briefly interrupted.

“This wouldn’t be Berkeley without a protest,” she said wryly.

The Chronicle reported that UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ shared some sympathetic words towards the rowdy students.

“They feel passionately about the brutality and the violence in Gaza, tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and the destruction of educational institutions,” she reportedly said, prompting cheers.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block makes a presentation at the first-day-of-issue ceremony for a commemorative Forever stamp depicting the late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden held Saturday outside Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles on February 22, 2024. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block continues to face calls to resign after chaotic protests on campus last week.

According to student newspaper The Daily Bruin, the UCLA Academic Senate faculty is continuing to criticize Block's leadership amid violent clashes on the school's campus. Last Tuesday night, an anti-Israel encampment was attacked by counter protesters.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the UCLA Academic Senate faculty is preparing to censure Block and to issue a no confidence vote. The Senate represents roughly 3,800 faculty members.

Block's response to the violence has been criticized as being too slow. On a May 2 call with alumni, he reportedly admitted that the clashes took his administration by surprise, according to ABC 7.

"We certainly weren't thinking that we'd end up with a large number of violent people, that hadn't happened before," Block reportedly said.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivers remarks to the media following the adjournment of the 2024 Virginia General Assembly on Thursday, March 14, 2024 at the Eggs Up Grill on Huguenot Road in Richmond, Va. (Photo by Minh Connors for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

A group of students, including keffiyeh-wearing protesters, reportedly walked out of a commencement address given by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin on Saturday.

Youngkin was delivering remarks to Virginia Commonwealth University graduates at the Greater Richmond Convention Center at the time of the protest.

The Washington Post reported that the walk-out involved dozens of students.

One sign reportedly read, "Teach Black history," while another said: "Book bans [do not equal] respect for learning."

Youngkin has been accused of "banning" books in Virginia schools after he signed a bill in 2022 aiming to remove books with adult content from public schools.

At the time, Youngkin said he hoped the law would "enhance education...and make government work better for the people of Virginia."

A group of protesters were filmed vandalizing the office of UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts on Saturday as part of an anti-Israel demonstration.

One demonstrator was seen writing "LEE ROBERTS IS A FASCIST" and "F--- UNC" in marker on the exterior of the campus building. The protester also wrote on the windows, which were covered in red paint.

The steps were also covered in red paint, and one message on the building read: "YOU SUPPORT GENOCIDE."

Last week, Roberts removed a Palestinian flag that was hung by protesters and replaced it with an American one.

"This university doesn’t belong to a small group of protesters. It belongs to every citizen of North Carolina," Roberts said at the time. "Everybody in North Carolina, everybody who goes to school here, everybody who lives and works here. The flag represents all of us."

"Take down that flag, and put up another flag, no matter what flag it is – that’s antithetical to who we are, what this university stands for."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosts a PM Connect event at Siemens Healthineers on May 10, 2024 in Eynsham, England. (Photo by Jacob King - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Academics have taken aim at U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for allegedly "scaremongering" about anti-Israel encampments at British universities.

This week, Sunak urged university leaders to take "personal responsibility" for protecting Jews on campus, according to the Guardian. He held an antisemitism roundtable at 10 Downing Street on Thursday.

There are reportedly at least 15 encampments across the U.K., but university officials claim they are far safer and less chaotic than American protests.

“I would say to the government: please work with us to make sure we don’t inadvertently inflame a situation that is currently being managed well," University of the West of England vice-chancellor Steve West said in a statement.

"We are trying to straddle complex and nuanced issues and manage tensions with an understanding of our own university environment, our staff and our students," West told the Observer. "I would argue that we are better placed to manage that than any member of government.”

Oxford professor Naomi Waltham-Smith said that Sunak's concerns have "raise[d] anxieties."

“One might say the prime minister’s actions this week were an attempt to scaremonger that we might see unlawful actions. I think it is irresponsible to raise anxieties among students," she said.

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito testifies about the court's budget during a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee's Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee March 07, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned that freedom of speech is "declining dangerously" during a university speech on Saturday, as anti-Israel protests across the U.S. continue to ignite national debates.

Alito, a conservative justice, was giving a commencement address at the Franciscan University of Steubenville when he made the comments.

“Right now in the world outside this beautiful campus, troubled waters are slamming against some of our most fundamental principles," Alito said, according to NBC News.

"Support for freedom of speech is declining dangerously...Very few colleges live up to that ideal. This place is one of them … but things are not that way out there in the broader world."

Exterior view of University Chapel on the Princeton University campus, Princeton, New Jersey, November 4, 2011. (Photo by Oliver Morris/Getty Images)

The Princeton University faculty's 24-hour hunger strike, which began on Friday morning at 10 a.m., was scheduled to end on Saturday morning.

"Our daylong solidarity fast is meant to emphasize the efforts of our students who are undertaking this strike, putting their bodies on the line to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza and the West Bank, who are being subjected to a forced famine and a genocidal assault by the state of Israel," a faculty member said at a presser on Friday.

The 24-hour hunger strike was mocked across social media for its short duration, prompting users to compare it to intermittent fasting.

"24 hours?! I do this once a week for f---ing fun. This is embarrassing," one person said on X.

"I do 3/4 of a Princeton faculty hunger strike EVERY DAY!" another X user wrote.

"I am commencing a hunger strike between now and breakfast. Estimated duration of hunger strike: 10 hours. Join me. Be strong," a third commentator joked.

Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the hedge fund Citadel LLC, speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin warned the ongoing protests on university campuses are part of a "cultural revolution" that threaten core American values.

“What you’re seeing now is the end-product of this cultural revolution in American education playing out on American campuses, in particular, using the paradigm of the oppressor and the oppressed,” Griffin told the Financial Times.

The Citadel CEO told the publication that it is in the best interests of Harvard University, his alma mater, to lead a return to "Western values" and publicly reject the leftist trend in prestigious academic institutions.

Griffin told the Financial Times, “Harvard should put front and center [that it] stands for meritocracy in America and will educate the next generation of leaders in American business, government, healthcare, and the philanthropic community. Harvard will embrace our Western values that have built one of the greatest nations in the world, foster those values with students, and ask them to manifest these values throughout the rest of their life.”

California State University, Sacramento ended disruptive protests on its campus this week by working with students to create new policies on investment ostensibly aimed at Israel.

Protests ended on Wednesday after the school updated its policies to state that the university "directs its auxiliaries [...] to investigate socially responsible investment strategies which include not having direct investments in corporations and funds that profit from genocide, ethnic cleansing, and activities that violate fundamental human rights."

Local representatives of Students for Justice in Palestine celebrated the change as a major victory for their cause, thanking University President Luke Wood for facilitating dialogues since protests began last month.

“Being a part of the student intifada is an honor,” said a SJP organizer speaking at the Wednesday press conference. “No student wants their tuition to ever go toward ethnic cleansing or genocide of anyone. Especially when you are Palestinian, you are forced into a terrible position of being complicit in the genocide of your own people.

The campus police chief at Arizona State University has been placed on leave for his alleged actions during anti-Israel protests.

"ASU Police Chief Michael Thompson has been placed on paid administrative leave, per university policy, pending a review of complaints filed related to his actions on April 26-27, 2024. Assistant Chief John Thompson has been named Acting Chief," the statement said. 

"The ASU Office of General Counsel is directing a review of actions surrounding the establishment and removal of an encampment on the Alumni Lawn. Upon completion of the review, ASU will provide an update on its findings," it continued. 

The nature of the complaints was not disclosed. 

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Fox News Senior National Correspondent William LaJeunesse joined Special Report Friday to report on increasing radical student recruitment efforts present at anti-Israel protests on college campuses nationwide.

"Armed struggle is enshrined in law," showed one confiscated pamphlet. Another, "We are not satisfied with co-existence.

"Going beyond extremist and violent rhetoric, weapons were discovered. Chains, steel cables and buckets of rocks were found and subsequently confiscated by authorities at UT Austin demonstrations last month.

More documents obtained by Fox News purportedly "celebrat[e] the death of innocent Jews and the elimination of Israel.

"Of 79 arrested at UT Austin, 45 were not affiliated with the University. LaJeunesse reported that experts believe "extremist documents lure students in using their sympathy for Palestinians to introduce more extreme views.

"At UCLA on Monday, campus police detained 40 anti-Israel protesters who had metal pipes, chains, epoxy padlocks and documents encouraging vandalism on their persons.

Flags representing the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine are present at most college campus protests nationwide, which the DNI classifies as a "Syria-based terrorist group."

US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit in Dallas, Texas, on May 7, 2024. (Photo by Aric Becker / AFP) (Photo by ARIC BECKER/AFP via Getty Images)

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has been disinvited from two separate college commencements due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

University of Vermont and Xavier University of Louisiana have removed Thomas-Greenfield from their programs to avoid sparking protest or disruptions from politically motivated students.

"There are also many in this community who admire Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield and believe she would meaningfully contribute to the commencement ceremony," Xavier President Reynold Verret said in a letter provided to Fox News Digital. 

"I see you mourn for lives lost in Israel and Gaza. I hear your calls for peace and a just end to the current unrest in the region. I hear your frustration with foreign policy decisions," University of Vermont President Suresh Garimella wrote, acknowledging with "regret" that Thomas-Greenfield would not join the 2024 ceremony. 

Fox News Digital's Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest as US President Joe Biden's motorcade drives past in Portola Valley, California on May 10, 2024. Biden is in the Bay Area to attend two campaign fundraisers. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Golden Together, a nonpartisan group in California, is pressing universities and lawmakers to restore the state's many cancelled graduation ceremonies.

Headed by California Republican Steve Hilton and former Democratic state Sen. Gloria Romero, Golden Together claims university and state leaders are failing to stand up to "the mob" and must restore normalcy to campuses.

"We feel very strongly that nobody has been speaking up for the majority of hardworking students who want and expect to complete their studies in the normal way, to have one of the most important moments of their lives, their commencement, their graduation, carry on as normal instead of it being disrupted by this vocal and sometimes violent minority," Hilton, a former Fox News host and political adviser, told Fox News Digital Friday.

"Instead of standing up to the mob, the people in charge both at UCLA, specifically, the University of California generally — 'cause you see this at other UC campuses — and the political leadership of the state, they’ve done absolutely nothing," he said. "They’ve done nothing to insist that classes go on as normal."

The City of Portland has added an extra police bicycling crew to its bureau, and Mayor Ted Wheeler said it's a welcome addition to a crew that's already made an impact.

"The @PortlandPolice Central Bike Squad has made a tremendous impact downtown - and we're excited to announce they are expanding. A new team of 4 officers and 1 sergeant will now work evenings and weekends," the mayor tweeted.

The new force adds four officers and one sergeant to its existing five members, of which the team already works Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The new team of five will work shifts Wednesday through Saturday from 2 p.m. to midnight. That schedule could be adjusted for special missions, officials said.

“I am thrilled to be in a position to expand the Central Bike Squad,” Portland Police Bureau Chief Bob Day said. “Our Bike Squad does incredible work Downtown and growing the team will only improve upon that work. In addition, adding resources to our Bike Squad furthers my goals of transforming the dynamic between police and the public and reducing crime and the fear of crime.”

Although the police department said its bike crew "will strategically address crime and livability issues, including drug dealing, unlawful weapons possession, stolen vehicles, graffiti, and other vandalism," it will focus on downtown and the entertainment district.

Portland State University has been a hotspot for anti-Israel protesters in the last two weeks. One week ago, PPB arrested 30 protesters who took over the PSU library twice in one day.

Maintenance staff and waste disposal crews clean up after police cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 10, 2024. Photo by MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images)

University of Pennsylvania officials said less than a third of the protesters arrested Friday during anti-Israel protests on campus were students.

"Penn police have now confirmed 9 Penn students were among the 33 individuals arrested — the other 24 individuals have no Penn affiliation," the university said in a statement.

"The arrested individuals were given code violation notices for defiant trespass and were released quickly throughout the morning. Upon searching the encampment, Penn police recovered several homemade weapons devised chains, bolts, and other metal parts."

“At approximately 5:30am this morning, Penn Police, with support from the Philadelphia Police Department, took steps to remove the unauthorized encampment on College Green,” a spokesperson said. “Protestors were given multiple warnings that they were trespassing and offered the opportunity to voluntarily leave and avoid citation.  

“Those who chose to stay did so knowing that they would be arrested and removed,” the spokesperson added. “Approximately 33 individuals were arrested without incident and cited for defiant trespass.” 

Interim UPenn President J. Larry Jameson and other top university officials released a joint statement this morning saying the encampment’s removal was an “unfortunate but necessary step to prevent violence, restore operations, and return our campus to our community.” 

“We have worked with serious intention for nearly two weeks to engage the protestors on College Green, who were notified on April 26th -- the second day of the encampment -- that they were in violation of Penn’s policies,” the administrators wrote. “This outreach has been met by unreasonable demands and a dangerous escalation of the encampment.”

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this report.

Thursday's anti-Israel protests at the New School in New York City resulted in more than 10 protesters taken into custody, per the NYPD.

In a statement provided to Fox News Digital by DCPI, "On Thursday, May 9, 2024, at approximately 1600 hours, police responded to a demonstration that took place at 63 5 Avenue, within the confines of the 6 Precinct."

"The demonstration concluded at 2155 hours. A total of 11 individuals were taken into custody."

Charges filed included harassment, disorderly conduct (obstructing traffic), escape, and criminal mischief.

Of those taken into custody, ages ranged from 22 to 46. One was labeled as 'undomiciled.'

Fox News Digital has reached out to the New School for comment.

Nearly 2,900 people have been arrested at 57 colleges and universities across the U.S. since the protest movement began at Columbia University in late April, according to the Associated Press. Some colleges have cracked down on protesters immediately, while others tolerated the demonstrations up until there was a threat of violence. 

The Associated Press contributed to this update.