By Rich McKay
(Reuters) -Los Angeles police made no arrests on Sunday while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Southern California following arrests and turmoil at universities across the United States over the Israel-Hamas war.
Various U.S. universities with graduation ceremonies being held on Sunday braced for more protests after dozens of people were arrested on campuses the previous day.
After USC requested assistance, police officers entered the encampment at about 5 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) and worked with the university’s Department of Public Safety to remove tents as dozens of student demonstrators peacefully left the area, police said.
Campus protests have emerged as a political flashpoint during a contentious U.S. election year as Democratic President Joe Biden seeks a second term in office. Police have arrested more than 2,000 people during protests at dozens of campuses around the country.
Democratic U.S. Senator U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders made a comparison this week between the current demonstrations and those against the Vietnam War that contributed to Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s decision not to seek re-election in 1968. “This may be Biden’s Vietnam,” Sanders said.
“I worry very much that President Biden is putting himself in a position where he has alienated, not just young people, but a lot of the Democratic base in terms of his views on Israel and this war,” Sanders added.
Mitch Landrieu, the national co-chair for President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, on Sunday pushed back against that comparison.
“I think comparing it to Vietnam is an over-exaggeration. This is a very different circumstance,” Landrieu told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
“However, that is not to say that this is not a very serious matter,” Landrieu added.
Under mounting political pressure, Biden on Thursday broke his silence on the campus unrest over the war in Gaza, saying Americans have the right to demonstrate but not to unleash violence.
Many colleges, including Columbia University in New York City, have called in police to quell protests.
At the University of Texas in Austin on Sunday, drones deployed by police circled overhead as about 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied, with about 50 onlookers, local media reported. The speakers advised fellow demonstrators to remain peaceful and not engage the police.
Students and other protesters have called upon universities to divest their financial ties to Israel and push for a ceasefire in Gaza. In April, Los Angeles police arrested 93 people at USC after they cleared an earlier encampment.
Police in the New York City area said at least four bomb threats have been made against New York-area synagogues this weekend, though none have proven credible. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, referred to these threats in a social media post, writing that “we will not tolerate individuals sowing fear & antisemitism. Those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions.”
More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military operations in Gaza, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; additional reporting by Emily Rose in Jerusalem; Editing by Andrea Ricci, Lisa Shumaker, Will Dunham and Deepa Babington)
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