BOSTON – Boston police arrested more than 100 people as they cleared pro-Palestinian protesters and their encampment from Emerson College early Thursday morning.
108 arrests at Emerson College, 4 Boston police officers injured
“108 arrests,” a Boston police spokesperson told WBZ-TV in an email. “4 officers injured, 3 minors, 1 more serious. Not all of them are life-threatening.”
Police said none of the protesters in custody reported any injuries “at this time.” All will be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court.
Emerson students got a late start camping out in Alley 2B off Boylston Street. Sunday night and stayed there three days. Boston police warned them Wednesday that they were violating city ordinances in the alley, which is not solely owned by Emerson College.
Emerson College protesters warned
The student protesters remained in the alley until Boston police arrived around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. The police would have warned them to leave and many of those who did not leave were stopped.
“These students were protesting peacefully at night, chanting their slogans,” Emerson College student Kyle Graff told WBZ-TV. “They refused to obey the police and after 5 to 10 minutes the police vans stopped and started forcing their way into the camp and taking these students away.”
Another Emerson student, who did not wish to be identified, described to WBZ what he saw Thursday morning.
“See, like handcuffs on the police belts. There were people who were thrown to the ground, their arms put behind their backs, dragged, pushed away. But in reality, they could, however, the police could take them out of the went as quickly as possible, without much concern for the safety of those they were evacuating.
Henry De Groot – DSA work mass
There has been no statement yet from Emerson College.
“Emerson College remains steadfast in its support of the right of community members to peacefully protest. However, we must also emphasize that we cannot prevent the enforcement of City of Boston ordinances or Massachusetts state law. We strongly urge protesters and their supporters to immediately comply with these laws to avoid legal consequences beyond the authority or control of the College,” Emerson College President Jay Bernhardt said in a letter to the College. school Wednesday.
Other events on campus
The protest at Emerson was just one of many on college campuses across the country this week. They were inspired by the pro-Palestinian protests in Columbia University it started on April 17. More than 100 people were arrested in Columbia.
Pro-Palestinian camps were set up in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University And Harvard University in the Boston area. All three camps remained active Thursday morning.
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