(PartiallyPolitics.com) – On Monday, state troopers in riot gear had started by trying to break a University of Texas at Austin Pro-Palestine protest by dragging students away.
The tension had started to escalate on Wednesday, when the demonstrators had tried to establish the South Mall camp, just under the campus administration’s UT Tower. On Monday, dozens of the protesters had been arrested following days of demonstration.
University President Jay Hartzell has spoken up against the protests, which are part of a nationwide movement across university campuses. This has also resulted in a vote of no-confidence by hundreds of faculty members who are calling for his removal.
On Wednesday state police had arrested dozens of protesters. Thursday had led to renewed protests, however, there had been no occupation, no arrests, and little police presence. However, on Monday the tensions increased after students had quietly moved without providing the university administration with a warning as they needed to set up a small protest camp in the Tower’s shadow.
Protesters had brought umbrellas and tents in order to stay protected from the suffocating heat and many other students had surrounded the encampment and linked arms in order to keep the police away.
Early in the afternoon state troopers arrived at the encampment along with other police officers, including city and university police. The police officers negotiated with the students while also dragging away all the students who were unwilling to leave the premises. Every single time one of the students would be grabbed all of the other students in attendance would scream for the officers to let them go.
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