Hall Occupied, Fake Corpses Placed, Many Held: How Pro-Palestinian Protests Turning Violent in US

Washington: As Pro-Palestinian protests continue to intensify across United States universities despite warnings by authorities, Wednesday witnessed two more such demonstrations by protestors, calling for peace in Gaza. 

Protesters Takeover University of California Hall, Police Called in

Tensions escalated at the University of California, Irvine, on Wednesday when protesting students occupied a university building for several hours, prompting school authorities seeking police intervention. The lecture hall was however taken back by the police, news agency Reuters reported.  

Some of the demonstrators were handcuffed. The banners that the demonstrators had hung from the balconies were also taken down. The recent protest at Irvine is the latest in a series of campus protests across the US over the Israel-Hamas conflict. The protesters have called for a ceasefire and the protection of civilian lives in Gaza while demanding universities divest from Israeli interests. 

The protesters at Irvine had established tents adjacent to the hall on April 29. The protests turned violent when about 200 to 300 of them stormed the lecture hall at a time when no classes were in session. The university declared the takeover a "violent protest". 

Protest at University of Michigan Official Residence

Meanwhile, intensifying the protest, mask-clad demonstrators set up a tent outside the home of a University of Michigan board member and placed fake bloody corpses outside, news agency AP reported. 

Reuters citing Sarah Hubbard, chair of the university's governing board, reported that at around 6am, around 30 people demonstrated outside her home in Okemos. They also chanted slogans using bullhorns and beat drums in her neighborhood while the University official stayed inside. 

The protest prompted the official to call police to the scene, following which the area was cleared of them 30 to 45 minutes later when Meridian Township police arrived. Nobody was arrested. The protesters left the area, leaving behind three tents and fake bodies wrapped in sheets.  

The protesting students are demanding that their university divest from companies with ties to Israel. Meanwhile, the university has maintained that it has no direct investments with Israel. The institute claims that only less than $15 million is placed with funds that might include companies in Israel. That's less than 0.1% of the total endowment. 

(With inputs from AP and Reuters)