Boston police tore down a pro-Palestinian encampment on Emerson College's campus overnight, arresting more than 100 people, and appeared poised to do the same to a new demonstration that formed at Northeastern University's campus Thursday afternoon.
Dozens of people, apparently including students and faculty, formed a ring around an encampment at Northeastern's Centennial Common. After several hours, a large group of police officers surrounded the group and asked them to leave. A third ring of people, media and spectators, formed around the edge of the park.
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Boston police told NBC News that'd made no arrests as of about 3:15 p.m. NBC10 Boston has reached out to Northeastern and Northeastern police on the situation.
The ring of police appeared to withdraw, leading to a cheer from the ring of protesters, who, like other groups across the nation, were calling on their university to divest from Israeli companies and denounce the ongoing war in Gaza.
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Emerson school canceled classes Thursday, hours after police broke up the encampment shortly before 2 a.m.
"Emerson College recognizes and respects the civic activism and passion that sparked the protest in Boylston Place Alley in support of Palestine while also holding and communicating concerns related to the numerous ordinance violations caused by their encampment. We also understand that clearing the encampment has significantly and adversely impacted our community," Emerson President Jay Bernhard said in a statement.
Students who witnessed the dayslong encampment being broken up described it as shocking — police pushing through the Boylston Place Alley, where the encampment had been since Sunday night to protest the war in Gaza.
Video obtained by NBC10 Boston shows students being removed from the alleyway by law enforcement. Witnesses said officers cleared out the alley in less than 30 minutes.
Boston police said 108 people were arrested on charges of unlawful assembly, with other charges possible. They were expected to be arraigned sometime Thursday.
"We were all linking arms saying like 'Ceasefire Now' and they moved in," said senior Percy DavisShaw. "Many students were thrown to the ground."
DavisShaw was among the protesters arrested at Emerson.
"I was pulled away from my fellow activists," said DavisShaw.
Students had been warned that they were breaking city ordinances by setting up an encampment on public property.
"I do understand this was a public walkway and the ordinances in place," said Emerson junior Leah Dawson. "However, the handling of the students is where I'm upset about it."
Boston police say four officers were injured and no students were hurt.
But multiple students, including Emerson's student government president, claim several students were injured.
"We condemn the brutal arrests that occurred yesterday," said Nandon Nair, president-elect of the Student Government Association.
Student leaders say they'll be holding a vote of no confidence on Friday against the school's president.
They say the police reaction was too violent, and the school has not supported the protesters.
"I think there definitely could have been a lot more negotiations," said Nair. "I think there could have been a lot more de-escalation tactics used, but there was absolutely no need for the brutalization and for the actions that we saw yesterday."
Mayor Michelle Wu discussed the arrests at the Emerson encampment, saying that the city's responsibility is on ensuring the safety of everyone in Boston and that tents in the alley posed health, fire and access hazards. Her team had reviewed some bodycam footage showing officers communicating with organizers of the protest, but that there was more to investigate.
"There's still a lot more to review here and I know that world events, global events are incredibly painful and emotional for our community. We cannot let that destabilize the safety and wellbeing of our residents here in Boston," Wu said.
Emerson sophomore Kyle Graff said police had spoken with protestors ahead of their show of force and warned them there had been complaints and that if they didn’t leave the premises, they would be arrested.
Graff said it was still shocking to watch how quickly it got violent, adding that students linked arms to try to form a wall.
"They had like just barriers set up with like umbrellas facing forward and making sure that no one could get through, making sure that the cops couldn’t get through. And there over here they had – over in the front entrance, their arms were all linked up, and they were all chanting their messages,” Graff said. "The big vans, they came in, they parked right in front of this alleyway and the cops came up and they started arresting students like forcing their way into the encampment and everything, pushing students to the ground. I saw one student get like shoved into the pavement and their hands like forced to be put behind them.”
Police cars lined Boylston Street early Thursday morning, with yellow police tape blocking off the alley where students had gathered. Cleanup appeared to be underway.
Emerson had previously warned that the tents blocking Boylston Place Alley were in violation of city ordinances and said action could be taken outside of the school's control.
"Of additional concern, Emerson has received credible reports that some protestors are engaging in targeted harassment and intimidation of Jewish supporters of Israel and students, staff, faculty, and neighbors seeking to pass through the alley. This type of behavior is unacceptable on our campus," school officials said in a statement.
College students in New England and nationwide have remained resilient in their protests against the war in Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian encampments have popped up across campus lawns at MIT, Harvard University and other Boston area colleges.
These students are standing in solidarity with their peers from Columbia University in New York. Not only are they calling for peace, but they're demanding the university divest from Israel and do more to protect Jewish students.
At Harvard, students took over the lawns at Harvard Yard Wednesday. The area had been closed off and currently security is checking IDs before letting students through - an unusual move as the area is usually open to anyone walking through the area.
Video posted by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee shows a large group descending on the area at once, moving quickly to set up tents and establish their encampment.
These demonstrations have been criticized by some as being antisemitic. One student who spoke with NBC10 Boston explained why she didn't consider that the case.
"Students are not for antisemitism whatsoever. I think they truly are just for human peace," said Kaysia Harrington, a junior at Harvard. "I don't think calling for a ceasefire is antisemitic whatsoever. I think that some of the very, very radical chants are very concerning, and I don’t think those are appropriate or have room for the movement here."
"As of right now, it's not threatening," said Jewish student Rebecca Hirschfeld, who says the camp should be removed if it becomes violent or disruptive. "It's been very calm, I haven't heard anything that makes me feel unsafe. We'll have to see what comes."
"We are closely monitoring the situation and are prioritizing the safety and security of the campus community," a Harvard spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday evening.
Tents were also still standing on MIT's campus Wednesday morning. These students say this encampment will remain until university officials meet their demands.
Those demands are like the encampments at Columbia University. They want their schools to stop accepting funding from groups that directly or indirectly fund the war in Gaza.
At Columbia, a school spokesperson said progress was being made, with student protestors committing to removing several of the tents and ensuring only students will be participating in the encampment.
The dispersal deadline had been extended and conversations there between the protesters and school officials were expected to continue for the next 48 hours.
Back at MIT, a coalition of student groups, including Jewish students, continue to push for progress on their goals, while some faculty are speaking out against them.
"I think that we're all here because there are over 34,000 Palestinians dead, over half of them are children and we feel that we want to speak out about that, but also to talk about MIT's complicity in the genocide of through our relationship with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and funding relationships specifically," said Gabriella Martini, MIT Scientists Against Genocide.
"I think that this group is vocal but it's essentially representing a very extreme and small group of Jewish people that lost their way," said MIT Professor Retsef Levi, MIT Israel Alliance.
MIT police were on site and watching closely for any disturbances.
Yet another encampment has popped up at Brown University in Rhode Island, reports NBC10 in Providence. Around 90 students were observed Wednesday morning setting up in the main green area of campus. The university warned that the camp is in violation of university policy.
“Encampment on Brown University’s historic and residential greens is a violation of University policy, and all of the students participating have been informed they will face conduct proceedings,” the university said in a statement.
"We're ready to face that. There's no business as usual during genocide," Rafi Ash, a sophomore at Brown, told the station.
Others pushed back on the encampments, saying that these demonstrations disrupt campus life and raise antisemitism concerns.
Brown is one of many colleges warning students that they could face consequences for these encampments.
