2 arrests made, encampments taken down at Princeton following pro-Palestinian protests on college campus

Shapiro was a key voice in the bipartisan criticism of former Penn president Liz Magill’s testimony on antisemitism before a congressional committee in December that ultimately led to her resignation.

At Princeton, activities started early Thursday morning when fewer than 100 people gathered on campus and some in the group began setting up about a half-dozen tents, which the university said is a violation of university policy.

“After repeated warnings from the Department of Public Safety to cease the activity and leave the area, two graduate students were arrested for trespassing,” the university said in a statement. “All tents were then voluntarily taken down by protestors.”

The two graduate students were barred from campus, pending a disciplinary process, the university said.

But other students and faculty members remained gathered on a campus lawn, continuing to protest Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza. Tensions rose, and at one point someone who appeared to be associated with the Ivy League university led a Pulitzer-prize winning Middle East correspondent away from the megaphone.

Students shouted “shame” and “let him speak” as Chris Hedges, formerly of the New York Times, was removed, an incident adding to the charged environment that saw over 200 students chanting “from the river to the sea” and other Pro-Palestinian slogans.

Urbi, a doctoral student from India who did not share her last name over concerns about her U.S. visa, said Hedges was removed from campus because of a ban on amplified sound. During earlier portions of the protest, students sat silently as speakers shouted — without a megaphone — messages of support for Palestinians and criticisms of Israel.

The student called Princeton’s response “deeply frustrating.”

The protest also drew a small gathering of pro-Israel supporters and those who said they supported the university’s containment of the encampment.

Riva Levy, 60, stood with a group of around 10 other supporters, one who yelled out at pro-Palestinian protesters that the word intifada was a threat to Jews.

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