Nearly 50 anti-Israel protesters were arrested Monday morning at Hewitt University Quadrangle at the center of Yale University’s New Haven, Connecticut, campus.
According to a live blog from The Yale Daily News, police began gathering around the area — often referred to as Beinecke Plaza — before 7:00 that morning, blocking entrances to the area.
The outlet said that the protesters had been present for three nights.
BREAKING: Police have just told protestors at Yale they will be arrested if they don’t leave: pic.twitter.com/58ku4S6Iwh
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) April 22, 2024
Arrests have begun. https://t.co/vYnTGVW54m
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) April 22, 2024
Just before 7:00, police began warning protesters that they would be arrested in “a few minutes” if they did not leave the area, according to the blog and video posted to X by Steve McGuire, who is listed on the website of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni as the Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom.
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Shortly thereafter, a police representative told the Daily News that 13 protesters had been arrested. Yale Police Lt. Roosevelt Martinez later confirmed that multiple students had been arrested for trespassing and were being transported for processing.
Police began taking down the protesters’ tents about 15 minutes later, according to the outlet.
By 7:52, the Daily News reported: “Remaining protesters remaining on the Plaza have been arrested. No students are left on the Plaza.”
Throughout the incident, protesters chanted anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian slogans, some of which stated that the Yale Police Department, Ku Klux Klan, and Israel Defense Forces were “all the same.”
Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell told the Daily News that 40 to 45 individuals had been arrested but would be released after being processed. The outlet noted that at least a few of them rejoined protesters after their release.
McGuire posted video of some of the protesters being taken into custody.
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) April 22, 2024
Extended clip of students being led away: https://t.co/tbmOJxKzP6
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) April 22, 2024
With the quadrangle cleared, protesters moved to occupy local intersections instead.
The aftermath: https://t.co/LpmWl1Q7BE
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) April 22, 2024
There are currently more than 350 protesters blocking the intersection of Grove and College Streets.
Most protesters have now sat down on the road. A protester is playing the drums in the center of the circle while some others dance. pic.twitter.com/rTkSH0zydm
— Yale Daily News (@yaledailynews) April 22, 2024
Protesters, including Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter, were also arrested at Columbia University last week. CNN said the situation there had escalated into a “full-blown crisis.”