Dozens of UT protesters arrested during pro-Palestine rally on the Austin campus

AUSTIN — Arrests were continuing into early Wednesday evening at the University of Texas after hundreds of students walked out of class to protest the war in Gaza and demand that the university system divest from companies that manufacture machinery used in war.

Dozens of state troopers and police officers in riot gear — many carrying zip ties and pepper spray — were on the Austin campus shortly after the pro-Palestine protest began around midday.

The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a statement saying that as of 9 p.m., 34 individuals had been arrested at the state’s flagship public university. However, later in the evening, George Lobb, an attorney with the Austin Lawyers Guild, said at least 54 people were arrested.

Officials had said that many faced charges of trespassing. A post from DPS also noted that state troopers responded to campus at the request of Gov. Greg Abbott.

Students began walking out of class just before noon, meeting outside the Gregory Gym. They eventually made their way to the South Mall, in front of the UT Tower, advancing even as officers tried to stop them.

Some state troopers carried assault rifles and others were stationed on horses. Periodically, officers could be heard ordering students to leave or face arrest.

Students chanted back to the officers, “Off our campus!”

Abbott posted on social media late Wednesday that “arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses. These protesters belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period.”

He went on to say, “Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.”

In addition to protesters, a video journalist was arrested while covering the events.

Student organizers of the UT rally shared on social media that they planned to walk out of class, “reclaiming our space as we demand divestment now.”

Huzi Sid, 23, a senior studying business, said today’s protest was about bringing awareness to the fact that people in Gaza are being “killed and massacred for just existing, for being born into a certain place.”

Sid said what is happening in Gaza is genocide and that he wants the killing to stop.

“Imagine leaving your house to go to work every single day and one day you come to the barricades there and you have to pass through a checkpoint,” he said. “[Palestinians] have been discriminated against nonstop in the West Bank, in Gaza, in Israel itself.”

UT President Jay Hartzell issued a statement late Wednesday noting that the university “held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed.”

Hartzell said that the student group leading the protest made clear ahead of time that they were going to “occupy” the campus, which violates rules of the institution.

“The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse,” Hartzell said. “The University did as we said we would do in the face of prohibited actions.”

Erick Lara, 20, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, said he was on his way to the gym in the afternoon when he ran into the protest. He said it seemed to transform within minutes from a peaceful rally to one in which he saw people being arrested.

“I didn’t think it would escalate this far,” he said. “And I didn’t think there would be this much police intervention from what’s supposed to be a peaceful protest. Not very peaceful when there’s a bunch of aggressors around, especially on horses.”

UT officials sent out a letter earlier saying they would not tolerate disruptions “like we have seen at other campuses.” A spokesperson for the university’s division of student affairs said in the statement that, “This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals, and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption.”

Lara added that students have been upset with UT President Jay Hartzell for not speaking up about the war in Gaza, which is part of the reason why they were protesting.

KXAN news reported that a letter sent to the student organization Palestine Solidarity Committee from UT’s Office of the Dean of Students informed the group on Tuesday that the students were not permitted to hold their event on campus.

“Refusal to comply may result in arrest,” the letter read. It went on to note that the group had “declared intent to violate our policies and rules, and disrupt our campus operations” with Wednesday’s planned rally.

Meanwhile, in North Texas, dozens of students at the University of Texas at Arlington also walked out at that school on Wednesday, gathering in front of the campus library. Social media videos showed students with signs and a banner that read “Stop arming Israel.”

On Tuesday, about 100 students at UT Dallas occupied the administration building for several hours also calling for officials to pull university investments from companies that are supplying weapons to the conflict in Gaza.

At that gathering, students were seen singing, writing to school officials and even doing homework as the night went on before an announcement was made that the campus president would meet with them. The UTD students had noted they were also protesting against Abbott’s executive order that the governor said was aimed at fighting antisemitism, charging schools with updating their free speech policies.

In the order, issued in early April, Abbott noted that he wants college officials to establish punishments — including expulsion — and to “ensure that groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine are disciplined for violating these policies.”

The Texas protests this week come days after students at Columbia University in New York were arrested and charged with trespassing.

Campuses nationwide have had protests since Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 people hostage, according to the Israeli government. In the months following, Israel bombed the Gaza strip multiple times, killing over 34,000 people, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. The Dallas Morning News cannot independently verify these numbers.

At UT, many students wore keffiyehs — a scarf that has been a symbol of support for Palestinians. Some students began setting up tents on the south mall.

“You don’t scare us,” the student crowd chanted, facing the officers. “We are the people!” “We pay your paychecks.”

Jasmine Santilla, 20, a sophomore studying accounting, said she saw students protesting peacefully when law enforcement showed up.

“They weren’t throwing anything around, not harming anyone,” she said. “And the cops came in and arrested a good amount of people. For what?”

Meanwhile, dozens of students with Israel flags and signs watched from the sidelines, among them freshman Corey Taitel, 19.

“It’s great that [the police] are on our side,” the business major said. “They see the things happening in the Ivy League, and it’s extremely scary. So I feel overall safe.”

Taitel said his mother has been calling him worried for his safety as a Jewish student.

“Today three girls started screaming at me. They told me I need to burn my flag,” he said of the small Israeli flag he had. “I don’t think they should be arrested if they’re just standing there. But everybody that’s been arrested has [done something].”

By the early evening, the south mall was cleared off with a wall of officers prohibiting access.

Organizations and politicians across the country are watching the protests evolve at UT and other campuses.

“Though we fully respect the need for the campus to maintain security and keep individuals on the campus safe, what we saw today was far beyond that and caused fear and intimidation to many people on the University campus,” Gary Bledsoe of NAACP Texas and Brian Evans of American Association of University Professors Texas said in a joint statement.

“This is a deeply alarming and sudden escalation at UT-Austin, seemingly on the basis of the behavior of students on other campuses,” said Kristen Shahverdian, campus free speech program director at PEN America, in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

Law enforcement must prioritize deescalation tactics and constructive dialogue during peaceful demonstrations, Shaimaa Zayan, operations manager of the Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter in Austin, said in a statement.

“Arresting students advocating for peace sends the wrong message and only exacerbates tensions further,” Zayan said.

When asked by a reporter whether the White House has any concern regarding police response during protests, spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said that since events at UT were happening as she spoke, she didn’t know how it was being dealt with on the ground.

“But, look, we’ve been very clear we want to see this be peaceful. We understand it’s deeply concerning,” she said. “It should not be violent.”

Philip Jankowski and Sue Ambrose contributed to this report.

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