'Divest from death': More than 30 arrested during pro-Palestine demonstration at UT campus

AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- More than 20 people were arrested Wednesday during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on the University of Texas campus, with confrontations between law enforcement and protestors continuing throughout the afternoon, into the evening.

Around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday evening, Texas Department of Public Safety officials say a total of 34 arrests had been made related to the day's protests.

The Palestinian Solidarity Committee of Austin organized the event, which directed students to walk out of class at 11:40 a.m., gather at Gregory Gym, and occupy the South Lawn of the campus.

UT's Division of Student Affairs sent out a statement addressing the protests Wednesday afternoon. "UT Austin does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses. This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption.”

University officials asked organizers to cancel their planned event in a letter sent Tuesday night, calling Wednesday's planned event a disruption to campus operations. "Simply put the University of Texas at Austin will not allow this campus to be 'taken' and protesters to derail our mission in ways that groups affiliated with your national organizations have accomplished elsewhere," reads a letter sent by the Office of the Dean of Students.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded to video of the protests on social media, calling for "students joining in hate-filled, anti-Semitic protests at any public college or university in Texas" to be expelled.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers, including DPS troopers dressed in riot gear, mounted officers on horseback, Austin Police officers, and University of Texas Police officers were at the scene.

DPS officials issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying its officers responded to the campus at the request of UT and at the direction of Abbott, "in order to prevent any unlawful assembly and to support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including criminal trespass."

University Police were asking everyone to avoid the area around the South Mall. It wasn't immediately clear from authorities how many arrests had been made, with some reports placing the total at more than two dozen.

At 5:20 p.m., university officials issued an order to disperse from the South Mall, with law enforcement again working to clear protestors from the area.

One of the individuals taken into custody as officers worked to clear the scene earlier in the afternoon was a photographer for KTBC Fox 7. Video posted by the station shows the photographer getting caught up in the protest crowd, with his camera getting pushed into the back of a DPS officer before he was taken into custody.

Event organizers, in a post on social media, said the demonstration would follow "in the footsteps of our comrades at Columbia SJP, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Yale, and countless others across the nation" and would establish "THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY FOR GAZA and demanding our administration divest from death."

UT officials said any students participating in the event would be subject to discipline including suspension; individuals "not affiliated with the University and attempting to attend this event will be directed to leave campus."