Officers used tear gas to disperse activists on the Emory University campus amid a nationwide crackdown
Police officers in the US state of Georgia used tear gas and tasers to disperse a pro-Palestinian student camp on Thursday, while law enforcement targeted activists on campuses across the country.
The clashes took place at Emory University in Atlanta, where activists – including students from several nearby universities – set up tents in the morning. They rallied against what they called “Palestinian genocide” By Israel, and against Cobb City, a local police and fire department training center currently under construction.
“We demand the complete institutional divestment of Israeli apartheid and Cobb City at all Atlanta colleges and universities.” One of the organizers said. “We occupy Emory, not because it is the only institution complicit in genocide and police militarization, but because its relationships are among the strongest.”
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The university said in a statement that dozens of people “Transcend” On her campus, she warned “We do not tolerate vandalism or other criminal activity.” Members of the Emory Police Department, Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol were called to the scene, according to local media.
“Members of the Atlanta community were randomly attacked today with pepper bullets, tear gas, and Tasers simply for camping out on a school lawn.” Organizers said, in a political protest.
Very disturbing shots. Atlanta police tased a handcuffed student protester at Emory University minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/Iq9p98za8y
– Read Let This Radicalize You (@JoshuaPHillll) April 25, 2024
A video allegedly filmed at the scene shows several officers holding down a handcuffed man, and one of them appears to shock his leg with a Taser.
APD confirmed use “chemical irritants” But he stressed that his officers did not do that “Rubber bullet shooting” Contrary to some reports circulating online.
While the university initially claimed that the activists were “They are not members of our community.” She later admitted that of the 28 people arrested in the raid, 20 were from Emory.
Pro-Palestinian activists have faced crackdowns across the United States this week. The wave of campus demonstrations last week was sparked by events at Columbia University in New York, and has spread to about 40 universities and colleges in the United States and Canada, according to NBC News. On Thursday, police reportedly targeted camps at Indiana University Bloomington and Ohio State University.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the US police crackdown, describing the protesters as… ‘Anti-Semitic mobs’ Comparing them to Nazi sympathizers in the 1930s.
Jonathan Greenblatt, leader of the pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League in the United States, claimed in an interview with MSNBC this week that the wave of protests was organized by “Campus Agents” from Iran.
Israel attacked Gaza in October last year in response to a deadly incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, in which 1,200 Israelis were reportedly killed. Since then, the death toll in the Strip has exceeded 35,000 people, according to Palestinian officials.
