Anti-Israel demonstrators at the University of Pittsburgh set up a new encampment on Sunday, erecting a fence around it and pitching tents inside.
Protesters set up camp outside the Cathedral of Learning on Pitt’s campus in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood.
One protester was arrested by police after trying to bring a box of water into the camp, KDKA-TV reported, after police instructed protesters not to bring anything into the camp.
Pitt said in a statement that those arrested were not affiliated with the university and were charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.
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Anti-Israel demonstrators at the University of Pittsburgh established a new encampment on Sunday. (iStock)
“At around 6pm on 2 June, two demonstrations in Auckland gathered on the Cathedral of Learning lawn,” a university spokesperson told TribLIVE. “Before our public safety teams intervened, this group of demonstrators quickly erected wooden barricades and fences, as well as other structures with tents inside, signaling their intention to rebuild the Gaza Solidarity Camp.”
Due to the large number of protesters, University of Pittsburgh Police requested assistance from other police departments, including the City of Pittsburgh Police Department, the Allegheny County Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Police.
University of Pittsburgh police said on the X (formerly Twitter) platform on Sunday that the Cathedral of Learning and the William Pitt Union “are closed due to public disturbance.”
Police asked people to avoid the area. Police set up roadblocks around the camp.
“The camping/sit-in situation at the University of Pittsburgh strictly occurred on a private campus,” a Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson said in a statement to KDKA-TV. “Pittsburgh Police are closely monitoring the situation to ensure everyone’s safety.”
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Security personnel from the pro-Palestinian camp on the University of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia campus patrol the campus on April 29, 2024. (Getty Images)
Videos posted by protesters on social media showed clashes between police and demonstrators. Police and protesters jostled each other after a police officer pushed a protester down the stairs of the Cathedral of Learning. Protesters said a plainclothes police officer allegedly kicked and hit a protester who was pushed to the ground.
“From his continued, deafening silence to his material investment in the ‘Israeli’ occupation, Pete remains complicit in the genocide in Gaza,” protest organizers said in a statement posted on Instagram.
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Protesters also called on Pitt to “disclose all university investments” and “divest Pitt’s finances, including endowments, from companies and institutions that profit from Israel.”
In late April, as the semester drew to a close, the Schenley Plaza encampment near the University of Pittsburgh was cleared. During the demonstration, two people were arrested by university police as protesters attempted to occupy the area around the Cathedral of Learning.
Since Hamas terrorists launched a raid on Israel on October 7, anti-Israel demonstrations have occurred on college campuses across the United States, triggering military retaliation from the Israeli military.
