People who support Palestinian rights and police fought on college campuses across Virginia for the first time since then. We are hearing from Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Youngkin said this about how the police dealt with the protesters: “I fully support the actions that have been taken.”
Youngkin said that safety issues were caused by outsiders stirring up trouble and students not following campus rules, which is why the cops were called.
“It’s okay to follow the rules and be calm. But when you go too far and start to camp out, which isn’t allowed on college grounds, you scare off other students, Youngkin said. “You are trying to stop the schools from running normally, that is not allowed.”
Some Democratic lawmakers have been critical of how the police have handled students exercising their First Amendment rights. Youngkin’s statements come at the same time.
“The fact that there are police there is kind of stirring up a lot of the protesters and people who are nearby to get violent,” State Senator Saddam Salim (D-Fairfax) told 8News.
Salim said that most of the protesters in Virginia have been peaceful and that schools should do a better job of letting kids say what they think.
“Give them a place to protest in a way that makes sense for the universities, for the people involved, and for the universities,” Salim said. “That way, we won’t make things worse.”
Youngkin didn’t say what, if any, part he played in stopping the protests. When asked about how the cops in Virginia have dealt with pro-Palestinian protests, he did say that they have been “deeply coordinated.”
