At least 40 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested on Yale University campus, school newspaper reports
Dozens of protesters have been arrested during a pro-Palestinian rally at Yale University in Connecticut, the school鈥檚 police chief told the .
Those arrested face charges of trespassing, a Class A misdemeanor, Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell told the campus news publication Monday morning. Campbell said they would be released after processing.
Tensions at many U.S. universities have been high since the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel by Hamas and Israel鈥檚 subsequent war on Hamas in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, according to the enclave鈥檚 health ministry.
Protesters at Yale had been warned twice before the arrests 鈥� once at 11 p.m. Sunday and again before 7 a.m. Monday, the police chief told the Yale Daily News.
Journalists from the publication were also threatened with arrest if they did not move from the plaza, the independent campus newspaper said.
鈥淐ops have gathered at Beinecke Plaza, where pro-Palestine protesters urging Yale to divest from military weapons manufacturers set up tents overnight 鈥� the third night of their ongoing encampment,鈥� it reported.
Despite the warnings from police, many protesters refused to leave. Some locked arms around a flagpole and sang, 鈥溾� as officers began arrests, according to footage provided to CNN by Yale graduate and independent journalist Thomas Birmingham.
CNN has reached out to Yale University administration, the Yale Police Department and the New Haven Police Department in Connecticut for more information.
At Columbia University in New York, officials announced all Monday classes will be virtual as Passover 鈥� a major Jewish holiday 鈥� is set to begin Monday evening.
The decision was made to 鈥渄eescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps,鈥� said.
