Several anti-Israel protesters were arrested at Virginia Tech on Sunday night and into Monday morning. This is one of hundreds of arrests made at elite schools and universities across the country recently.
Three police officers can be seen on video from the site in Blacksburg, Virginia, putting one student in zip-tied restraints and carrying them to another part of the camp by their arms and legs. Other students were seen with their handscuffed, and some walked with the police.
Reports from Reuters say that officers were jeered at as they arrested the troublemakers and took down the tent cities that had been set up outside of Virginia Tech’s Graduate School to try to restore peace on campus.
The protest at Virginia Tech is part of a larger movement of protests happening on college campuses across the United States, at places like Columbia, Princeton, Yale, the University of Southern California, the University of Michigan, and more.
The protests are against Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and the rising death toll. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, says that more than 34,000 people have died in the war, most of them citizens.
Universities are being asked by anti-Israel protest groups to stop investing in companies that back or make money from Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
Protesters on college campuses across the U.S. are threatening to stop planned graduation ceremonies by continuing to cause trouble.
On Saturday, about 275 people were arrested on college campuses across the country, including at Arizona State University, Indiana University at Bloomington, and others. Nearly 900 people have been arrested across the country since April 18, when New York police broke up an anti-Israel protest camp at Columbia University and arrested more than 100 protesters.
On Saturday, police in riot gear also arrested about 102 students at a camp on the Boston campus of Northeastern University. The Massachusetts State Police said they will be charged with trespassing and acting in a crazy way.
On Saturday, police at Washington University in St. Louis arrested more than 100 people, including students and workers of the university, and took away masked protesters.
Some students across the country were against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which was a response to Hamas’ deadly attack on the Jewish state on October 7. This led to the nationwide college protests.
