Brandeis University says seven people were arrested Friday during a demonstration on campus in Waltham, Massachusetts.
The arrests were made at a rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which came on the heels of the school's announcement that it would no longer support the campus chapter of the National Students for Justice in Palestine.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
 |
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
A school spokesperson told NBC10 Boston that the crowd "was chanting threats and harassing language."
"Slowly you could hear more arguing," said Brandeis student Lindsay Garito. "More conflict, it sounded like there was some sort of altercation."
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
The Waltham Police Department said in a written statement that the demonstration became "unruly," and seven people were taken into police custody.
Charges against those who were arrested include assault and battery on a police officer, unlawful assembly ad disorderly conduct, according to Waltham Police.
Campus police tried to dismiss the crowd after four orders were made for protesters to disperse, the school said.
"We were dispersing," said Andrea Burns who attended the rally. "The whole group was dispersing when the police circled in back of us and tackled four or five people to the ground."
The Boston Globe noted that nearly 100 people took part in the protest. Some students told the newspaper they feared retribution "from the university and others for speaking out" and declined to give their names.
"There was nothing violent about what anyone said," said Burns. "It was about solidarity and support for th Palestinian people."
The names of the people who were arrested have not been released.
The president of Brandeis' chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine said Tuesday that the group was caught off-guard by the school's announcement.
"We never got a heads-up that we were being investigated, we never met with anybody about the whole issue," said the chapter president, who spoke with NBC10 Boston anonymously.
"National SJP has called on its chapters to engage in conduct that supports Hamas in its call for the elimination of the only Jewish state in the world and its people," the school told NBC10 Boston at the time. "Such expression is not protected by Brandeis' principles of free speech."
