Biden shames his authoritarian self over US university protests

  • Post last modified:May 3, 2024
  • Reading time:11 mins read


Let’s take a look at how this very much not authoritarian nation squashed dissent in the name of order.

Menacing cops

UCLA students clad in white helmets linked arms and formed a line facing off against officers, who were detaining protesters and leading them away.

Police used flashbangs to disperse the crowds gathered outside the encampment who chanted “Let them go!” as helicopters hovered overhead. In another part of the encampment at UCLA, students carrying umbrellas, helmets, and plastic shields squared off against police in mostly tense silence, with sporadic chants of “Free Palestine!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

University staff spoke out against the violence from police, with UCLA Professor Danielle Carr expressing outrage:

Officers blocked stairs accessing the site, with students dressed in yellow jackets and serving as medics telling AFP they were being largely prevented from reaching the area. Reports have flooded in of pro-Israel protestors charging at the UCLA encampment, and what did the police do?

Once UCLA student was shot in the face with a rubber bullet, and later appeared to have had his Twitter account removed:

Human rights attorney Noura Erakat expressed disbelief:

 

The large police presence, including LAPD and California Highway Patrol officers, came after law enforcement were criticised for being slow to act during violent clashes late Tuesday, when counter-protesters attacked the encampment of pro-Palestinian students.

Perhaps those claiming the police were slow to react were confused with the slow reaction from cops at Sandy Hook. Guardian reporter Lois Beckett laid out how security hired by UCLA hid as pro-genocide supporters attacked students – and one commenter noted the similarities to the Uvalde shooting where police were criticised for a slow response time:

The kids are alright

Demonstrators have gathered on at least 40 US university campuses since last month, often erecting tent camps to protest the soaring death toll in the Gaza Strip.

Officers detained several people at Fordham University in New York and cleared a protest set up inside a school building, officials said. Police appeared to kettle students:

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, protesters dug in, blocking an avenue near the centre of the campus in Cambridge during the height of Wednesday afternoon’s rush hour commute. Students paid touching tribute to visionary journalist Wael Al Dahdouh:

Riot police were menacingly decked out as they dragged students off their own campus at the University of Texas, Dallas:

Police said about 300 arrests were made at Columbia, and the tents shown in the tweet below have since been cleared by over-eager cops:

However, students remain steadfast:

BreakThrough News shared footage of alarming police violence at Dartmouth:

Lecturer at Middlesex University Tarek Younis summed up what students across the US face:

The mayor’s office said Thursday night that almost half of those arrested at the two schools Tuesday night were people unaffiliated with the schools.

Balancing act

Like university leaders, Biden’s administration has also tried to walk the fine line between free speech and complaints of intimidation. Biden said:

There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for anti-Semitism, or threats of violence against Jewish students.

Honestly, it’s getting tired.

Student protests across America and around the rest of the world are not antisemitic – they’re a response to the interminable siege of Palestine.

What else are students supposed to? Sit back and watch as universities in Palestine are razed to the ground? Do nothing while the US arms Israel? Twiddle their fingers while experts predict that 10,000 Palestinians are buried in rubble that will take years to clear?

What are the police supposed to do then, you may ask?

Stay the hell away:

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

Featured image via the Canary





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