Police deployed a heavy presence on US university campuses after forcibly clearing away some weeks-long protests against Israel’s war with Hamas. Dozens of police cars patrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles campus in response to violent clashes overnight when counter-protesters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian students.At Columbia University in New York City, which has been the epicenter of the demonstrations, police were on standby after officers marched onto campus late Tuesday to end the protests there. The sight of helmeted police at two of America’s most prestigious universities left some students dismayed.
I don’t think we should have a heavy police force on campus, UCLA student Mark Torre, 22, said as he surveyed the scene from behind metal barriers. At Columbia and at the City University of New York, where police cleared demonstrators out overnight, some students decried “rough and aggressive” tactics used by officers.