AUSTIN — State police have arrested dozens of protesters who set up a pro-Palestinian encampment at the center of the University of Texas at Austin Monday, the final day of classes for the spring semester.

By midday, several hundred people were seated on the lawn of the academic pavilion, refusing to leave after campus officials and law enforcement asked them to do so.

The demonstration is one of dozens at colleges and universities nationwide in which students are protesting university connections to corporations that have contracts with the U.S. Defense Department or support Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Police could be seen physically carrying out protesters after they were handcuffed, even dragging some in custody who refused to walk away from the scene. A statement from the university said demonstrators had ignored “repeated directives from both the administration and law enforcement officers” to dismantle their tents, accusing them of verbal and physical encounters with staff attempting to take down the encampment.

“Baseball size rocks were found strategically placed within the encampment. The majority of protesters are believed to be unaffiliated with the university. On Saturday, the University received extensive online threats from a group organizing today’s protest,” the statement added.

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Piles of trash, including pizza boxes, paper, blue tarps, and tents were left behind as the encampment was cleared on Monday.

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