The President of the United States, Joe Biden, condemned this Thursday (2) the use of violence during protests at US universities but said he supported the acts, as long as they were peaceful.
“Peaceful protests are free in the United States. Violent protests are not,” declared Biden. “Destroying property and threatening people is not a peaceful protest. It is against the law. People have the right to protest, but not to create chaos.”
Biden was being charged for a position given the wave of protests that, since mid-April, have taken over major US universities, including Yale, Harvard and Columbia.
With an important Jewish electorate but also faced with public opinion strongly favorable to the Palestinians, the president chose not to take sides. Therefore, he avoided outright condemning the protests, but said that “order must prevail” and condemned anti-Semitism.
“There should be no place on campuses or in the United States for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or any hate crime,” Biden said during a speech at the White House.
Asked whether he will send troops from the US National Guard to assist police in actions on campuses.
Video shows clash between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine students
This Thursday, ofThe center of the wave of protests was the University of California (UCLA). With tear gas bombs and rubber bullets, state police removed protesters who were camped on the university campus in Los Angeles and arrested hundreds of them.
This Thursday, police officers entered the campus at around 3am local time (7am Brasília time) and launched dispersal and tear gas bombs. Students who refused to leave the premises were arrested by the police. According to local police, “hundreds” of people were arrested during the evacuation action.
Police evict protesters from Columbia’s Hamilton Hall
On Tuesday night (30), police forces expelled students protesting against Israel on the campus of Columbia University, in New York, another major focus of the protests.
Students had occupied Hamilton Hall, one of the university’s buildings, hours earlier, after setting up a camp at the beginning of the month. After police forces entered the campus, protesters who resisted ended up being detained.
Shortly before the operation, the New York Police Department received a notice from Columbia authorizing officers to act, a police officer told the Associated Press. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The police used a ladder to access one of the university’s windows. To support the operation, a bus was made available to transport the detained students.
After the police action, protesters continued to demonstrate in the streets around the university. The shouts of order, this time, were against the New York police.
Police evict protesters from Columbia’s Hamilton Hall
Tags: Biden condemns violence students protests #1st speech escalation acts universities USA World
