A University of Minnesota student protest was cleared late Tuesday night for the second time in a day.
Students had set up tents and yurts on campus in front of Coffman Memorial Union, calling on the school to end any investments tied to the Israeli military. More than 300 people staged a walkout Tuesday afternoon.
According to organizers and videos posted on social media, law enforcement arrived at the protest encampment late Tuesday night. Organizers say they packed up the tents and yurts, but they plan keep protests going Wednesday.
An earlier encampment was cleared Tuesday morning; nine protesters were arrested.
Organizers said they set up the first encampment at about 4 a.m. Tuesday. Soon after 7 a.m., a livestream video showed police detaining some of those who had been in the encampment, and removing tents.
About 300 people staged a walk out at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus Tuesday afternoon in response to university police arresting protesters.
In a statement, the university said the students were violating campus policy and state law, which prevent tents and other encampment arrangements on university property without a permit. However, the university says it supports students and faculty expressing their views.
University officials said campus police approached the encampment shortly after 11 p.m. and communicated “a similar warning to the one provided to those who established an encampment earlier in the day on the other end of the Northrop Mall.”
“Those in this evening’s encampment dispersed, and tents and other structures were removed.”
Students at universities around the country have started similar encampments after more than 100 people were arrested at a protest at Columbia University in New York.
Campus protests began after Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel, when militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. During the ensuing war, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and noncombatants, but says at least two-thirds of the dead are children and women.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar visited the U of M campus Tuesday and spoke to hundreds of people who participated in a walkout.
“I am incredibly inspired by the fact that you all are standing up for humanity, that you are saying the anti-war movement in this country is not dead,” Omar said.
Omar's daughter, Isra Hirsi, was arrested last week during the Columbia protests.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.