Campus protests live: NYPD officer fired a gun while clearing protesters in Columbia while 130 people arrested at UCLA

The Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization that advocates for human rights, weighed in on the pro-Palestinian protests that have emerged across the country.

Louis Charbonneau, director of the organization at the United Nations, wrote that colleges must protect students’ right to protest.

“There have been disturbing reports of anti-Semitic incidents on and around the Columbia University campus,” Charbonneau wrote. “Allegations of anti-Semitic acts and speech by individuals, as well as acts of Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination, must be investigated and addressed on a case-by-case basis, through fair and transparent processes.”

“As protests spread to campuses across the country, university administrators must be careful not to mischaracterize criticism of the Israeli government’s policies or advocacy for Palestinian rights as inherently anti-Semitic, or to abuse the university’s authority to to suppress peaceful protest,” he continued. “Instead, universities must protect people’s rights to assembly and freedom of expression.”

The Columbia University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors is calling for a vote of no confidence against President Minouche Shafik and her fellow administrators.

In a statement, the department condemned its decision to call the New York Police Department about protesters who occupied Hamilton Hall on Tuesday evening.

“This decision was made without consultation with the University Senate, contrary to established procedures, using so-called emergency powers,” the chapter said in a statement Thursday. “It also went against the efforts of the AAUP and the faculty upon whom the protesting students relied to de-escalate the situation on campus and serve as observers in the negotiations – efforts that were endorsed by the Senate President University and continued into the afternoon before the attack. .”

More than a hundred people were arrested on Columbia’s campus on Tuesday evening.

A police officer involved in clearing protesters from a Columbia University administration building earlier this week fired his gun in the hallway, a spokesman for District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office confirmed Thursday.

No one was injured, according to spokesman Doug Cohen, who said there were other officers but no students in the immediate area. He said Bragg’s office is investigating.

He provided no additional details about the incident, which was first reported by news station The City.

The New York Police Department did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment.

The Pulitzer Prize Board, housed under Columbia University, praised the efforts of student journalists to cover the protests even while “at risk of arrest.”

“As we come together to consider the nation’s best and bravest journalism, the Pulitzer Prize Board would like to recognize the tireless efforts of student journalists on our nation’s college campuses, who are covering protests and unrest despite great personal and academic risk. the board wrote on Thursday, four days before the announcement of the 2024 prize winners.

“We would also like to express our appreciation for the extraordinary real-time reporting by student journalists at Columbia University, home to the Pulitzer Prizes, when the New York Police Department was called to campus Tuesday evening,” they continued.

If The independent‘S Alex Woodward Student journalists reportedly worked around the clock to document the historic demonstrations on college campuses across the country.

Police officers from Hanover, New Hampshire arrested approximately 90 Gaza protesters at Dartmouth College on Wednesday into Thursday.

Those arrested included both students and non-students, police said.