UT Austin Palestine protest: Nearly 80 protesters taken into custody

By FOX 7 Austin Digital Team

Published April 29, 2024 1:43pm CDT

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Protesters arrested at UT Austin

Dozens of protesters were arrested by law enforcement at a UT Austin Palestine protest on Monday, April 29

AUSTIN, Texas - Pro-Palestine protesters gathered once again on the University of Texas at Austin campus. 79 protesters were taken into custody, according to the Travis County Sheriff's Office.

On Tuesday, a UT Austin source said 45 of the 79 arrested on Monday were not affiliated with UT; 34 were students.

The University of Texas at Austin Police Department issued a dispersal order as protesters gathered on the South Mall.

DPS arrived on campus around 1:30 p.m. to support UTPD.

After the dispersal order was issued, law enforcement began removing the encampments set up on the South Mall and arresting several protesters one by one.

The University of Texas at Austin released a statement regarding Monday's protest on the UT campus:

"After protesters ignored repeated directives from both the administration and law enforcement officers to comply with Institutional Rules and remove tents assembled on the University’s South Lawn, then physically engaged with and verbally assaulted Dean of Students staff who attempted to confiscate them, UT and partner law enforcement agencies dismantled an encampment and arrested several protesters. Baseball size rocks were found strategically placed within the encampment. The majority of protesters are believed to be unaffiliated with the university.On Saturday, the University received extensive online threats from a group organizing today’s protest. These threats have been reported to local, state and federal law-enforcement. Since October and prior to April 24, no fewer than 13 pro-Palestinian free speech events were held on the UT campus, and four since then, largely without incident. The university will continue to support the free speech and assembly rights of our community while also enforcing its Institutional Rules."

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Gov. Greg Abbott posted about the UT Austin protesters being arrested on X, formerly Twitter.

This protest comes after days of protests last week.

Almost 60 people were arrested, including a FOX 7 Austin photographer, by law enforcement on the University of Texas at Austin campus on Wednesday, April 24. Charges against those arrested were all dropped the following day.

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UT Austin Palestine protests continue

Pro-Palestine protests continued at UT Austin on Friday for a third day. FOX's Olivianna Calmes reports from campus with more.

The protests in Austin are just one of many going on around the country.

At Columbia University in New York, pro-Palestinian protesters encamped in tents were told to vacate by 2 p.m. The warning came after Columbia President Minouche Shafik said the university 'will not divest from Israel' in a statement.

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UT Austin protest: Protesters arrested

Several arrests have been made at UT Austin during a Palestine protest at the South Mall on Monday, April 29.

At New York University, police said 133 protesters were taken into custody late Monday. All were released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said police officers were hit with bottles and other objects at some of this week’s protests.

In Connecticut, police arrested 48 protesters — four of them not students — Monday at Yale University, after they refused to leave an encampment on a plaza at the center of campus.

At the University of Georgia, police and Georgia State Patrol troopers arrested multiple demonstrators during a pro-Palestine protest there on its Athens campus.