A group of pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Texas at Austin campus was confronted by Texas state troopers on Wednesday afternoon.
The Palestine Solidarity Committee, an organization committed to advocating for Palestinian liberation and the right to return, recently announced its intentions to create “the Popular University” at the UT Austin campus through an Instagram post.
Supporters planned to “reclaim our space” by organizing a walkout from class at 11:40 a.m. and gathering at Gregory Plaza, as mentioned in the post. Students were given instructions to then proceed to occupy the lawn, bringing along blankets, food, face masks, and energy.
The purpose of the demonstration was to encourage UT Austin to “divest from death,” mirroring previous protests at Columbia University in New York City. Over 100 pro-Palestinian student demonstrators have set up camp on Columbia’s main lawn, voicing their opposition to the war and calling for their school to divest from companies linked to Israel.
During Wednesday’s demonstration in Texas, law enforcement quickly arrived on the scene and blocked the students’ path to the lawn, as reported by The Daily Texan on X (formerly Twitter). A video captured the moment when UT Austin police and Texas State Police took action to prevent the students from proceeding further.
According to the college’s student newspaper, The Daily Texan, approximately 50 state troopers, including seven officers on horseback, have arrived at the scene in riot gear.
A video from the Palestinian Solidarity Committee’s Austin branch went viral, capturing the moment when hundreds of students passionately marched out of their classrooms, fervently chanting “Free, free, free Palestine.” As tensions escalated, four individuals participating in the protest were apprehended by the police shortly before 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. Footage of the clash portrayed a tense standoff between the students and law enforcement officers.
Texas State Police and Governor Greg Abbott’s press office were contacted by Newsweek via email for comment.
Days after expressing his views on the protests at Ivy League universities like Columbia, Governor Abbott took to social media, specifically X, to comment on the ongoing protest at UT Texas Austin.
“Ivy League universities are demonstrating that their era has come to an end,” Abbott expressed. “They serve as mere relics of our history, now complicit in the turmoil they once contributed to.”
Protests erupted on college campuses in response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The conflict was ignited by Hamas’ attack on October 7, resulting in the death of approximately 1,200 individuals and the abduction of around 250 others. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel’s subsequent actions led to the tragic loss of at least 34,000 Palestinian lives, predominantly women and children. The Associated Press has extensively covered these distressing developments.
Houston has emerged as a hub for pro-Palestinian demonstrations, with several protests effectively persuading event organizers to cancel public-speaking engagements featuring Israeli speakers and Jewish sympathizers.