25 Arrested in Charlottesville in Latest Campus Protest

The campus unrest continues, and the AP rounds up events:

• Virginia: Twenty-five people were arrested for trespassing at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville after police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters. University police moved in after declaring the days-long encampment an "unlawful assembly." Students were pushed to the ground, pulled by their arms, and sprayed with a chemical irritant, Laura Goldblatt, an assistant professor of English and global studies who has been helping student demonstrators, told the Washington Post. "Our concern since this began has been the safety of our students," she said. "Students are not safe right now."

• Michigan: Demonstrators at the University of Michigan chanted anti-war messages and waved flags during commencement ceremonies. About 75 people, many wearing traditional Arabic kaffiyehs along with their graduation caps, marched up the main aisle toward the graduation stage. They chanted "Regents, regents, you can't hide! You are funding genocide!" Overhead, planes flew banners with competing messages. "Divest from Israel now! Free Palestine!" and "We stand with Israel. Jewish lives matter." Officials said no one was arrested, and the protest didn't seriously interrupt the nearly two-hour event, which was attended by tens of thousands of people, some of them waving Israeli flags.
• USC: Protesters abandoned a pro-Palestinian encampment early Sunday at the University of Southern California, days before commencement events are set to begin on the Los Angeles campus, after officers threatened them with arrest. The university said that campus safety officers assisted by the Los Angeles Police Department were clearing the area and that no arrests had been reported. The encampment had restarted after the Los Angeles Police Department first arrested 93 people on April 24. Full story here.
• Northeastern: Students waved Palestinian flags during commencement for graduate students on Sunday, but others raised the flags of India, the US, and other nations. A student speaker's call for peace in Gaza drew brief cheers. The ceremonies were conducted peacefully at Fenway Park in Boston, per the AP.
• Overall: The AP has recorded at least 61 incidents since April 18 in which arrests were made at protests, with more than 2,500 people being arrested on 50 campuses. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.

(More 2024 campus protests stories.)