Police Arrest Over 100 Protesters At Emerson College As Pro-Palestinian Protests Flare Across Country

Boston Police Department (BPD) arrested over 100 pro-Palestinian protesters Wednesday evening at Emerson College, the Daily Caller News Foundation confirmed.

Students have been protesting since Sunday and created an encampment in an alleyway partially owned by the college despite being warned that they were in violation of city ordinances, according to CBS News Boston. Police made a total of 108 arrests and broke up the encampment after warning protesters again to leave the area, a BPD spokesperson told the DCNF.

“108 arrests, 4 injured officers, 3 minor, 1 more serious. All non-life threatening,” the spokesperson said. “No protestors in custody have reported injuries at this time. Protestors will be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court.”

The department did not elaborate on whether the protesters had been released or what they were being charged with. The school has not made a statement on the arrests but classes were canceled Thursday, according to CBS News Boston.

The administration urged protesters in a statement Wednesday to abide by city laws and clear out the encampment, according to an announcement to the school.

“Most notably, the Commissioners expressed that the tents occupying Boylston Place Alley violate city ordinances prohibiting tents in a public right-of-way,” the announcement reads. “They also noted alleged violations involving blocking pedestrian access to the alley, public noise violations, and ongoing reports of fire hazards posed by blocking doors and hydrants. These are not Emerson College rules but laws and ordinances enforced by the city and the commonwealth.”

The college also noted that it had received reports that there had been “targeted harassment and intimidation of Jewish supporters of Israel and students, staff, faculty, and neighbors seeking to pass through the alley” from protesters and that this behavior was “unacceptable,” according to the school’s announcement.

Pro-Palestinian protests have been erupting across the country following the arrest of nearly 100 students at Columbia University who were protesting the school’s ties to Israel. Multiple groups at Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, among others, have started encampments, calling for the universities to meet their demands to boycott, divest and sanction Israel over its war with Hamas.

Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7 killing over 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, including Americans.

Emerson did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.