Dozens of police officers moved in on MIT's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Friday morning to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment and arrested 10 protesters, school officials said.
Shortly after 4 a.m., police moved in and began taking protesters into custody, putting zip ties on them and loading them into at least one of the buses.
Sally Kornbluth, MIT's president, confirmed that 10 students — both graduate and undergraduate students — were arrested during the operation to dismantle the MIT encampment, at her direction.
She says they were given several warnings to leave and chose not to comply.
"They did not resist arrest and were peacefully escorted from the encampment by MIT police officers and taken off campus for booking," said Kornbluth.
Hours later, protesters marched from campus to Kornbluth's home, blocking part of Memorial Drive during the afternoon commute.
Then, police began to systematically take down the tents, flags and signs that made up the encampment.
Student protestors who witnessed the show of force said this action by MIT will not keep them from continuing to protest the violence in Gaza and the university's alleged ties to Israel.
"Nobody really thinks that college students warrant hundreds of riot gear officers descending onto their campus four in the morning in an ambush orchestrated by the administration," said Mohamed, MIT grad worker.
"We are not married to the encampment. Our cause is the people in Gaza, our cause is the end of the genocide in Palestine and we will come back with whatever means we see fit," said Baltasar Dinis, MIT first year grad student.
Those 10 MIT students arrested earlier appeared in a Medford courtroom Friday. Their attorney said they've been ordered to follow the school's suspension orders.
"They've lost their rights to be students without any sort of hearing being conducted by MIT," said Jeffrey Feuer, who is representing the students.
While we await the arraignment of the protesters in custody, we also await their official charges because their attorney said the paperwork hasn't come to the court yet.
Over at Harvard, students protesting outside the scope of university policies could face involuntary leave.
“The ongoing protest encampment within Harvard Yard has continued in violation of university policies, creating a significant disruption to the educational environment at a key time in the semester as students are taking finals and preparing for Commencement. The University has repeatedly communicated that disciplinary procedures and administrative referrals for placing protesters on involuntary leave continue to move forward," a spokesperson wrote in a statement Friday.
The university declined to say how many students have been placed on leave, saying they do not comment on individual or administrative disciplinary matters.
