Anti-Israel demonstrators at the City University of New York clashed violently with police on Tuesday night outside the campus, where an intifada encampment was set up last week.
Chaos erupted as protesters at Harlem Public University tried to break through barricades preventing them from reaching the tent city that emerged on Friday, according to videos posted on social media.
Police can be seen pushing back protesters as they try to hold their ground (video) Posted on social media program.
A man and a police officer exchanged violent shoves as some demonstrators threw trash at police.
Suddenly, a swarm of police officers showed up to make the arrest, the footage shows.
As protests spread to the streets, a man photographed He hit an NYPD officer in the head with a 5-gallon water jug that had a sticker on it that read “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.”
The man was quickly tackled to the ground by several officers and taken into custody, according to the video.
The camp appeared at the state-funded university on Friday.
Tensions escalated as rumors spread that City University of New York administrators were working to shut down the gathering.
The number of rioters surged Tuesday afternoon as the group CUNY4Palestine called on its supporters to mobilize following reports that the encampment would be cleared.
Organizers had warned hours before the clash that they would be met with “fury” if they tried to stop the demonstration.
The square was littered with tents, Palestinian flags, and signs calling for the CUNY system to leave Israel in light of the ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Palestine calls this university an intifada,” Within Our Lifetime host Nadeen Kiswani shouted to the crowd in an impassioned speech earlier this week.
“We have the right to control where our tuition money goes, and that tuition money should never be used to oppress people anywhere.”
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It was not immediately clear whether all the protesters were connected to the school, but Professor James Hoff of the City University of New York said: I wrote to X “Many faculty members and…union members” were in attendance.
City College was on spring break until Tuesday, so according to the academic calendar.
CCNY Chairman Vince Boudreau Announced on Tuesday He said the campus would be closed and all classes would be remote on Wednesday because the encampment was “posing significant challenges to us.”
Compared to previous demonstrations the university has held since war broke out in Gaza in October, this demonstration was “more contentious and violent than any we have seen on campus.” said the president.
“This is not primarily a CCNY demonstration, and it’s probably not primarily a CUNY demonstration,” he said.
“This is obviously a difficult moment for the CCNY community and for me personally,” Boudreau added.
“I know that all of you join me in wanting a peaceful end to this encampment.”
