(USNewsMag.com) – Virginia Tech police arrested several students taking part in a pro-Palestinian protest on the school’s Blacksburg, Virginia, campus late on April 28th and into the morning of April 29th.
Students taking part in the pro-Palestinian protests happening on college campuses across the country have set up encampments to protest against Israel’s war with Hamas and for the colleges to divest from companies that conduct business with Israel.
In an effort to restore peace on the campus, officers removed the tents from the encampment, which protesters set up outside the Graduate Life Center at Virginia Tech’s Graduate School. Three police officers are seen in a video carrying a student, who is in zip-tie restraints, by their legs and arms. The video of the arrests also shows some students handcuffed and other students walking with the officers, who were met with jeers from the protesters.
Police were called to the encampment to address the situation on the campus because the demonstration did not comply with the school’s policy for use of campus facilities, resulting in a total of 80 arrests, including 53 current Virginia Tech students, according to a statement from the university.
Despite the arrests, some pro-Palestinian protesters remained in front of the Graduate Life Center, with senior Molleigh Judd stating the protests would not end “until they divest” and “meet our demands.”
Several faculty members were also involved in the demonstration, including an assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s political science department, Bikrum Gill, who said they “stand with their students” and “refuse to go along with the complicity of our university.”
The arrests at Virginia Tech come as students protesting at colleges across the country clash with police and other students. On April 27th, the protests resulted in the arrests of 275 students on college campuses across the country at schools such as Arizona State University. The weekend arrests bring the number of people arrested on campuses to over 1,000 over the past two weeks.
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