Watch: Harvard protests take an ugly turn as students fly Palestinian flag in place reserved for US flag

In an unexpected move, anti-Israeli protesters hoisted a Palestinian flag at Harvard University at a spot whichis generally reservedfor flying the national flag of the United States as demonstrations continued to go out of control on the campus.

The shocking step was taken by three radical students on Saturday (April 27) as they raised the Palestinian flag over the iconic statue of John Harvard, where generally the Stars & Stripes fly.

As perThe Harvard Crimson,the flag-raising incident happened just after6:30 pmlocal time.In all,the students hoisted three flags at the campus, said the report.

“The flags raised by protesters over University Hallwere removedby Harvard facilities staff,”said aspokesperson,whilespeaking to The New York Post.

“The actionsare a violation ofUniversity policyandthe individuals involved will be subject to disciplinary action,"he added.

Netizens strongly react to the hoisting of Palestinianflags,call for armedintervention

Social media users strongly criticised the move of the protesters.“These pro-Hamasprotesters’sole agenda is to eradicate every Western value and every basic human right while establishing an Islamic Sharia law regime,”said X user Mor Hogeg in a post.

“They are starting with the Jews in Israel as their main objective and will continue with the entire west. It is not a fight of Israel against Hamas – the fight is between a culture of life and a culture of death. WAKE UP!"he added.

Meanwhile, another emphasised the need for an armed intervention.

“This is where the National Guard needs tobe called in. On the other hand, with our representatives in Congress waving Ukrainian flags,it’snot as if these young people have great role models,"Mark Isaacson wrote.

According to The Crimson, generally, the American flag flies at the flag pole, however, it also has flags of visiting foreign dignitaries displayed when theyvisitthe campus.

It added thatat thetimeno flag was flying on thepole,since the Stars & Stripes is typically hoisted at7 amfrom Monday to Friday and is lowered at4 pm“for proper storage".

No lockdown or evictions, says ColumbiaUniversity

Meanwhile, Columbia Universityrejected the rumours of mass evictions and campus lockdowns as the “tent city” demonstration continued.

Watch:Pro-Palestine Protests: Students at prestigious Paris university occupy campus building

“We want to be clear: There is no truth to claims of an impending lockdown or evictions on campus,” said theadministration,in a statement Saturday (April 27).

The police arrested hundreds of anti-Israel protesters at college campuses across the country after fed-up administratorssaid, “enough is enough".

More than200 protesters were arrested on Saturday (April 27) from colleges, includingNortheastern University in Boston, Arizona State University in Tempe, Indiana University in Bloomington and Washington University in St. Louis.

(With inputs from agencies)