BOSTON – On Wednesday, Emerson College notified pro-Palestinian protesters in downtown Boston violated city law by occupying Boylston Place and turning it into a tent city. The college warned students that the police have the right to respond.
Despite this, the students did not back down and continued planting Palestinian flags and signage, vowing not to leave.
Police moved in overnight and started making arrests. Numerous reports estimate the number to be in the dozens.
At least 41 people have been arrested, according to the school newspaper The Berkeley Beacon.
A group called Emerson Students for Justice in Palestine claimed that more than 100 arrests had been made.
CBS News is seeking comment from the school, police and Boston Police.
Henry De Groot / DSA Working Mass
Working Mass, a media outlet for the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter, says at least one of its journalists has been arrested.
Working Mass Managing Editor Henry De Groot posted a video on X of a confrontation between police and demonstrators and arrests.
Emerson students make demands
Student protests against the war between Israel and Hamas are growing in Boston. Students at Emerson College are demanding that the government support their message of Palestinian liberation and until then they say they will continue to occupy Boylston Place, an alley near the college.
“We will stay until our demands are met or we are forcibly dragged away,” said Emerson College student Amrita Bala.
Students were warned by the council on Wednesday that their tent city, built outside the Department of Transportation building, violates Boston city ordinances. Students said they were prepared for possible consequences.
CBS Boston
“At this point, this is an effective way to ensure that our demands are met and we can continue to put pressure on these institutions,” said Rayan Afif.
Students for Justice in Palestine listed demands it said must be met before its members leave the area.
“Disclose all financial ties, disintegrate from Israel, end the oppression of students and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine,” one group member said.
Students protest in solidarity with Columbia University
Students say they are inside solidarity with Columbia University after arrests were made on the New York City campus. Students at Harvard are now doing the same, with an encampment in Harvard Yard. The university warned that students are prohibited from blocking pedestrian walkways or access to building entrances and that students could face disciplinary action.
Israeli Americans positioned themselves across the street at Emerson in the hope that police would take action.
“There’s a residential building there and a lot of people I know had to move to hotels to escape the noise,” Tyler Gelman said.
They said they were frustrated by what they called an ill-informed report and hoped for calm on campus.
“They are asking Emerson to divest,” Gelman said. “It’s a lot of ‘we want these things,’ but Emerson can’t provide these things.”
