Police began removing anti-Israel protesters from an encampment on Yale’s campus early Monday after a week of protests calling for the university to divest from military weapon manufacturers.
Between 40 and 45 protesters were arrested as police looked through tents set up in the encampment near Beinecke Plaza, Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell told the Yale Daily News reported. Beinecke Plaza is where more than 250 agitators had gathered Sunday night.
Protest organizers told the paper that at least some of those arrested are students.
Campbell told the Yale Daily News that the arrested protesters would be charged with trespassing, a Class A misdemeanor, and would be released once they are processed.
As police removed the protesters around the camp, a group of more than 350 demonstrators blocked the intersection of Grove and College Streets on the New Haven, Conn., campus, the college newspaper reported. Video from the scene shows members of the group holding “Free Palestine” signs and singing, “From Yale to Columbia, we will not be moved.”
The removal of the protesters comes after a similar situation involving anti-Israel protesters on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday. At least 108 anti-Israel agitators were arrested as police broke up the encampment.
Students at Columbia were told in an overnight statement that all classes will be held virtually on Monday as anti-Israel protesters take over the campus with another encampment.