10 students arrested as police clear pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Police began clearing the pro-Palestinian encampment on the MIT campus early Friday morning.

Video from the scene shows police roaming through the encampment around 4:20 a.m.

Ten individuals, a mix of graduate and undergraduate students at MIT, were arrested, according to the University. The students did not resist arrest and were peacefully escorted from the encampment by MIT police officers and taken off campus for booking.

“My responsibility is to the whole community: to make sure that the campus is physically safe and functioning for everyone, that our shared spaces and resources are available for everyone, and that everyone feels free to express their views and do the work they came here to do,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said.

Police in riot gear arrived around 4 a.m., encircled the camp, and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. A crowd outside the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but were dispersed by 6 a.m.

The move at MIT comes several days after police first attempted to clear the encampment only to see protesters storm past barriers and restore the encampment, which includes about a dozen tents in the heart of the campus in Cambridge.

Nearly 10 people were arrested Thursday for blocking the parking garage that faculty use. Students on campus want MIT to stop funding research for the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

“Our actions today had nothing to do with the specific viewpoints of the students in the encampment,” Kornbluth added. “We acted in response to their actions. There are countless highly effective ways for all of us to express ourselves that neither disrupt the functioning of the Institute nor create a magnet for external protestors.”

Kornbluth said that removing the encampments was her last resort. “I had no choice but to remove such a high-risk flashpoint at the very center of our campus.”

Boston 25 also reached out to Harvard and Emerson for updates on its student protests ahead of Commencement but hasn’t heard back.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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