Police SHUT DOWN UMass Amherst anti-Israel occupation, arrest 130

Police at the University of Massachusetts Amherst shut down an anti-Israel campus occupation on Tuesday night.

The police action came after UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes wrote a message to the community on Tuesday stating that administrators failed to reach an agreement with the protesters and called on the police to dismantle the encampment.

”We have provided many paths forward for a resolution, including in our discussions today with protest representatives. Our message to this effect was delivered to the demonstrators in the encampment by the Demonstration Response and Safety Team. Demonstrators rejected our offers for continued civil discourse to help bridge our differences and refused to dismantle their encampment,” Reyes wrote. “Moments ago, I asked the University of Massachusetts Police Department to begin dispersing the crowd and dismantling the encampment. Let me be clear - involving law enforcement is the absolute last resort.”

UMass Amherst’s chancellor said he tried to appease the anti-Israel encampment on his campus.

They rejected his offers.

Now he’s called in the police to dismantle the camp and disperse the squatters. pic.twitter.com/u6dC1oN0zR

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyDillon) May 8, 2024

According to CBS News, the university said 130 students were arrested for illegal encampments with state and campus police assisting.

[RELATED: Emerson College POSTED BAIL for its own pro-Hamas occupiers]

Reyes said that protesters rejected an offer that would have forced the board of trustees to consider divesting from defense-related firms, but they rejected it.

[RELATED: AYFKM: Columbia University makes no mention of Jews in Holocaust Remembrance Day post]

One video on social media shows a protester attempting to prevent police from arresting another individual. The protester was tackled to the ground by police.

BREAKING: Students are being arrested at UMass Amherst. Footage isn’t for the faint of heart. A possible student activist rushes in to prevent the arrest of another encampment occupier.

No one backs him up as he tries to prevent the arrest and overwhelm the police. He proceeds… pic.twitter.com/CDNYLdr2nJ

— Stu (@thestustustudio) May 8, 2024