President Joe Biden spoke out for the first time following violence and arrests during demonstrations at several US universities, saying: “There is a right to protest, but not a right to cause chaos.”
Tension in universities around America They have been under construction for days as protesters have refused to vacate the camps and administrators have called on authorities to dismantle them.
There have been clashes between pro-Palestinian activists and counter-protesters, as well as between protesters and police.
Speaking today at the White House, mr biden He said the events at the universities “test two fundamental American principles, the first is the right to free speech and people to peacefully assemble, the second is the rule of law.”
“Both must be respected,” the president continued. “We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people and crush dissent. But we are not a lawless country either. We are a civil society. And order must prevail.”
He added: “Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent should never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so that students cannot finish their semester and college education.”
Biden has at times criticized Israel’s behavior, but the United States has continued to provide it with weapons.
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Why are students protesting?
‘I was trapped between students and the police at UCLA’
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Police try to disperse UCLA students overnight
The president said the protests have not led him to rethink policies related to the Middle East.
His comments came after days of silence over the protests. During this time, Republicans have attempted to use scenes of unrest against Democrats.
Biden said he rejects attempts to use the situation to “score political points.” “This is not a time for politics,” he said today. “It’s a moment of clarity.”
Hundreds of protesters arrested
Overnight, police arrested pro-Palestinian protesters on multiple campuses, including the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where Riot officers fired rubber bullets at protesters and tore down a camp that had been in place for a week.
Police clash with pro-Palestinian protesters on the UCLA campus early Thursday morning. Photo: AP
Protesters are arrested on the UCLA campus. Photo: AP
Between 200 and 300 people were arrested last night at UCLA, two police sources told NBC News, Sky’s US partner.
Specific information about those arrested, such as whether they are students, staff or not affiliated with the university, may not be known for days.
The cost of the two-night operation to secure the campus and remove the camp runs into several million dollars, they added.
NYPD law enforcement officers closed some of the city’s streets Tuesday night. Photo: Reuters
Police arrest a protester at Columbia University. Photo: Reuters
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Other arrests were made at the University of Texas, Yale, Dartmouth and New York State Universities at Buffalo and Stony Brook.
Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop working with Israel, or companies that say they support the war in Gaza, have spread across the United States.
Another prominent demonstration at Columbia University in New York was broken up by police on Tuesday night, with Around 300 arrests are being made..