'Outrageous': Internet divided as anti-Israel protesters clash with police at University of Texas in Austin

AUSTIN, TEXAS: On Wednesday, April 24, students at the University of Texas at Austin organized an unauthorized protest against the conflict in Gaza and demanded that the university divest from companies that manufacture machinery used in Israel’s war efforts.

Per the New York Post, the Palestine Solidarity Committee encouraged students to protest on campus, but the university had warned that the event would not be allowed to “proceed as planned.”

Despite the warning, hundreds of students walked out of class to demonstrate at the school’s Gregory Plaza with attempts to occupy the lawn in the same vein as the Columbia University encampment, only to be met by dozens of local and state police.

Some policemen approached on horseback while other law enforcement officers, fully equipped with batons and riot gear, formed a line to stop protesters from marching through campus, ultimately turning into a violent clash between the police and demonstrators. Cops were seen pushing and shoving students off the campus lawn, resulting in at least 20 arrests, including a photojournalist for Fox 7 Austin.

Governor Greg Abbott responds to anti-Israel protests at UT

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott denounced the demonstration and demanded that any student caught participating in the protest be arrested and expelled.

“Arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses,” Abbot wrote on X. “These protesters belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period.”

“Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled,” he added.

Police continued to push and compel students to remove their bikes from the south lawn as of Wednesday night.

The remaining students could be heard chanting, "Free!" "Free Palestine!" as they protested, linking arms and defying the troops' commands.

The Palestine Solidarity Committee issued a call for "emergency action" on Tuesday, urging students to "reclaim our space" through the protest in solidarity with the college demonstrations in New York and around the country.

“In the footsteps of our comrades at Columbia SJP, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Yale, and countless others across the nation, we will be establishing THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY FOR GAZA and demanding our administration divest from death,” the group wrote on Instagram.

However, the University of Texas administration informed the organization on the same day that demonstrators would not allowed to occupy the campus.

"Simply put, The University of Texas at Austin will not allow this campus to be ‘taken’ and protesters to derail our mission in ways that groups affiliated with your national organization have accomplished elsewhere,” university officials wrote in a statement to the group.

“Any attempt to do so will subject your organization and its attending members to discipline including suspension under the Institutional Rules,” they cautioned.

One individual who had been identified as an organizer of the event was arrested by the police and subsequently taken to Travis County Jail.

Meanwhile, similar protests have persisted at Columbia University, where students have staged an occupation of the campus lawn to express their objections to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.

Governor Abbot had criticized the New York demonstrations on Monday for potentially inspiring similar protests that have appeared across colleges and universities in the United States.

“Ivy League universities are showing that their time has passed,” Abbott wrote.

Rep Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat from Austin, condemned the arrests at UT Austin as unnecessary.

She tweeted in response to the heavy-handed action on protesting students by police officers, saying, “We’re getting answers about why students are being arrested @UTAustin. Unless there was an actual threat of violence, this is out of hand.”

Over the past week, law enforcement officials have detained several individuals across numerous university campuses throughout the United States, charging them with criminal offenses related to trespassing or disorderly conduct.

Some members of the Jewish student community have expressed concerns that these protests have crossed the line into antisemitic behavior, causing them to be fearful and apprehensive when visiting campus.

Internet divided as anti-Israel protestors clash with police in Austin

One X user claimed, "Until people are arrested and expelled, this will continue. If the universities do not respond accordingly, that means they want it to. Outrageous that they let it get to this point."

Another user remarked, "Our tax dollars are at work forgiving their student loans!"

Someone else said, "Without consequences, this will just continue and get worse as time goes by."

One user asserted, "Protesting a massacre commited with the help of the US taxpayer money isn't a crime."

Another wrote, "People are awakening up to the bloody government policy on Gaza."

A user tweeted, "Even if you don’t agree, it’s their constitutional right. I rather them on a campus where this type of stuff has historically happened for decades than on bridges and roads impeding the real adults…"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.