Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after clashing with police in New York

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with the officers of the New York Police Department (NYPD) in Brooklyn on Saturday (May 18), which reportedly led to over 30 arrests.

Protesters and police clash in Brooklyn

Chaos erupted at a pro-Palestinian rally in the Bay Ridge neighbourhood in Brooklyn where a group of at least 250 people were protesting the Israeli military’s offensive in Gaza.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

In various videos posted on social media of the rally, NYPD officers can be seen punching at least three people who were wrestled to the ground. This comes after police reportedly tried to move them towards the sidewalk in Bay Ridge.

Subsequently, the officers began tackling and arresting people, while some protesters could be seen yelling and fighting back with the officers, according to the videos.

Also Read |Death toll after Israeli strike on Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza rises to 31

According to the New York Post, the entire neighbourhood was blanketed by a massive police presence. “The NYPD has spent over 400 million on Palestine protest alone,” the demonstrators chanted in a call and response, as quoted by the media report.

A report by the New York Times, early Sunday (May 19), citing a senior law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity said at least 34 people were arrested amid the protest in Brooklyn, while the charges they face were unclear.

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania police, on Saturday, said six students were among 19 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during an attempt to occupy a school building.

Members of Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine had called for action on Friday (May 17) at the school’s Fisher-Bennett Hall, urging supporters to bring “flags, pots, pans, noise-makers, megaphones” and other items, according to the Associated Press.

The local media reported that the officers from the University police supported by city police then escorted the protesters out and secured the building.

The police said that they recovered “lock-picking tools and homemade metal shields fashioned from oil drums,” after clearing out the building.

Additionally, exit doors had been secured with zip ties and barbed wire and barricaded with metal chairs and desks, while windows were covered by newspaper and cardboard, and bike racks and metal chairs blocked entrances, said the police, according to AP.

Last week, city and university police broke up a two-week encampment on the campus, arresting 33 people, nine of whom were students and two dozen of whom had “no Penn affiliation,” according to university officials.

Campus protests in Australia

In a statement, on Saturday, students at La Trobe University said that the college authorities are “attempting to crush pro-Palestine encampments.” This comes amid a wave of campus protests in support of Palestinians in Australia.

Also Read |Whitewashed words: Netanyahu's office hits back at Gantz's 'ultimatum'

La Trobe University, on Friday, issued a formal directive for protesters asking them to end their encampment on the Bundoora campus, according to the Guardian.

Meanwhile, students at the University of Melbourne spent four nights camped inside the Arts West building as organisers of the protests and university administration remained in a deadlock as the university’s executives had not met their key demands.

The students have also renamed the building from Arts West to Mahmoud Hall, to honour a Palestinian student who they say intended to study at the but was killed in Gaza last year.

(With inputs from agencies)