Fox News Poll: 59% Oppose College Campus Protests
Foreign Desk Editor-in-Chief Lisa Daftari and Bulletproof Israel’s Remi Franklin join “Fox News at Night” to discuss police arrests of anti-Israel protesters at the University of California, Irvine .
UC Irvine, president of the University of California, said in a statement Thursday night that he was “heartbroken” after an anti-Israel protest hours earlier left the campus in chaos.
On Wednesday, hundreds of anti-Israel agitators swarmed and barricaded campus buildings, forcing school administrators to call law enforcement to restore order. Local reports Thursday morning said dozens of people were believed to have been arrested during the police response.
“What a sad day for the university. My heart is broken,” President Howard Gilman began in a letter to “the campus community.”
“…the encampers have promised our community that they are committed to maintaining a peaceful and undisturbed encampment, but they have not made the situation clearer in a way that directly attacks the rights of other students and the mission of the university. “It was terrifying to see it change so dramatically,” he wrote in part.
Police invade the University of California, Irvine campus after anti-Israel agitators swarm the building.Students are asked to “please leave the area”
Anti-Israel demonstrators confront police Wednesday as they clear an encampment at the University of California, Irvine. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
Photos and videos taken at the university showed a confrontation between agitators and heavily armed police, after which tensions reached a boiling point.
“Over the past two weeks, I have consistently communicated that while the encampment is violating our policies, the behavior does not rise to the level of requiring police intervention. My approach has been to: It was consistent with the guidelines in UC’s Robinson/Edley report, which called on UC to “exhaust all possible options before resorting to police intervention,” Gilman continued.
Anti-Israel agitators forced the University of California, Irvine, to call police to restore order on campus, according to President Howard Gilman. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
In a statement, the prime minister said he and school administrators were ready to listen to peaceful protesters, but negotiations turned violent.
California mayors battle on social media over law enforcement response to anti-Israel protests at the University of California, Irvine
Additionally, “we do not allow people to camp peacefully on campus without resorting to police intervention, even if the encampment violates our policies and the presence of the encampment is highly distressing to other members of the community.” “We were prepared to allow the existence of the land,” he added. We have informed them that any violation of our rules will be dealt with through normal university administrative policies, not through police action. ”
The president of the University of California, Irvine, said he was “heartbroken” after chaos erupted on campus Wednesday, forcing police to be called in to restore order by an anti-Israel mob. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
“The latest campus-specific and system-wide demands made by our campers and their counterparts across the University of California sought to mandate that anyone who disagrees with them must defer to them.” wrote the principal.
“They have asserted their right to oversee many elements of university operations, including administration, faculty, students, and staff, bypassing customary campus protocols and ignoring the functions of the Academic Senate,” his statement said. “it is written like this. “Most importantly, their attacks on the academic freedom rights of our faculty and the free speech rights of faculty and students were appalling. We can only imagine the reaction if we set up an encampment to force them to censor” anti-Zionist academic and student programming. ”
After anti-Israel agitators surrounded a physical science lecture hall at the University of California, Irvine during Wednesday’s demonstration, police removed them from the campus steps. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
Gilman lamented that the protest could have been resolved without police intervention, but the agitators forced his hand.
“What concerns me now is not the unreasonableness of their demands; it is their decision to turn a manageable situation that did not require police involvement into one that requires a different response. I didn’t want that to happen. I did everything in my power to prevent this from happening,” he wrote.
“It is unfortunate that this campus, which I love so much, had to go through such a tragic and avoidable situation. I believe that every member of our community is essential to the lives of others,” the president said. We remain steadfast in our determination to protect the right to express the viewpoints we believe in.” And I remain steadfast in my determination to protect faculty and students from efforts to thwart the same academic freedom and free speech rights as everyone else on this campus. ”
“My hope is that through norms of academic inquiry and debate, we can find a way to a culture of peace, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to addressing our differences.”
Dozens of people were arrested as police restored order at the University of California, Irvine campus on Wednesday, local reports said. (Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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In a previous X post, the University of California, Irvine instructed students to “shelter in place” as police descended on campus.
The University of California, Irvine canceled classes for the remainder of Wednesday, noting that protests continued into the evening, and announced in an update that night that Thursday would be completely remote.
FOX News’ Sarah Rumpf-Witten contributed to this report.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the University of California, Irvine Police Department to confirm the number of arrests, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
