Columbia University has been the site of ongoing student protests in support of Palestine. These protests escalated when the university administration issued an ultimatum, threatening suspension for those students who did not leave their encampment by a specified deadline. Despite this, students held a march around the encampment on the university grounds as of April 29, 2024, rejecting the university’s directive.

At the University of Texas at Austin, a similar protest in support of Gaza resulted in significant police action. On April 29, 2024, riot police dispersed the protesters, leading to around 50 arrests. The police used pepper spray and what was reported as a stun grenade during the intervention. The arrests were made following a warning from the UT police department that protesters could face charges, and this incident marked the second intervention by state police at the campus within the week.

In another incident, on the same day in New Orleans, allegations of excessive force surfaced following police intervention against pro-Palestine protesters in the French Quarter’s Jackson Square Park. The clash resulted in three protesters being hospitalized and eyewitness accounts supported by videos suggested that law enforcement used batons and tasers indiscriminately. Additionally, two people were charged with hate crimes against law enforcement.

These events at Columbia University, the University of Texas at Austin, and in New Orleans are part of a larger wave of campus activism and street protests across the United States, focusing on the Israel-Hamas war and related issues. Collectively, they reflect a resurgence in student-led activism and public demonstrations, reminiscent in their intensity and scope to historical protests such as those seen in 1968 over the Vietnam War.