Police arrest 130 protesters at UMass Amherst

AMHERST - Police arrested about 130 people at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Tuesday night after the college says pro-Palestinian protesters refused to take down an encampment on campus and leave the area.

UMass has not said what the protesters are charged with, but 109 have been booked by campus police as of Wednesday morning and there are charges pending for about 25 more.

The tent encampment on the South Lawn of the Student Union is the second encampment to form on the Amherst campus this semester, The Daily Collegian student newspaper reported. Tent encampments inspired by protesters at Columbia University have popped up on college campuses in Massachusetts and around the country.

Protest organizers in Amherst told WBZ-TV that their demonstration was in response to Israel seizing the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. A senior Biden administration official told CBS News that the White House position has been that Israel "should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah," where 1.3 million Palestinians are currently located.

UMass chancellor asked police to intervene

UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes said in a message to the college that he asked campus police to disperse the crowd and dismantle the encampment after protesters "rejected our offers for continued civil discourse."

"Let me be clear - involving law enforcement is the absolute last resort," Reyes said. "It saddens me to send this message tonight, but I am hopeful that our campus community will persevere to find common ground and come together in these challenging times."

Reyes said that during an earlier meeting on Tuesday, he told protesters that the Board of Trustees would consider a call for divestment from defense-related firms. He said the students rejected the offer.

Will student protesters face school discipline?

A statement from UMass did not say if the arrested students could face discipline from the school.

Elsewhere in the state, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Tuesday that "dozens of interim suspensions" are underway after protesters tore down a fence around an encampment there. MIT president Sally Kornbluth had warned students that they could face immediate suspension and be banned from graduation ceremonies if they did not leave the encampment.