Texas authorities arrested at least 10 University of Texas at Austin students Wednesday afternoon in the midst of a student-led protest critical of Israel, multiple outlets reported, as campus tensions boil over at universities across the country over student protests in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
Students at the University of Texas at Austin were arrested following a student-led protest on ... [+]
The protests Wednesday in Texas’ state capital come as students at colleges and universities stage sit-ins and walk outs, most notably at Columbia University in New York City, where an encampment on campus has prompted widespread pushback and calls from lawmakers for the Ivy League school’s president to resign.
More than 200 students at the University of Texas participated in the protest, demanding the school divest its endowment from manufacturing companies that supply weapons to the Israel Defense Forces, the Texas Tribune reported.
That protest follows a similar demonstration at the University of Texas at Dallas on Tuesday, when students demanded school officials reject a controversial executive order from Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordering colleges to discipline a “sharp rise in antisemitic speech and acts on university campuses.”
Videos posted online appeared to show state police in riot gear marching through the demonstration on the school’s campus, with officers taking some students into police cars, while other officers patrolled the campus on motorcycles and on horseback.
Amelia Kimball, associate managing editor of The Daily Texan, the university’s student newspaper, told CNN the police presence included state police officers, Austin police and campus police, who told students involved in the protest to disperse, warning that students who did not disperse would be arrested.