Across the Bay Area, tons of of protesters marched through major streets Saturday morning to precise their discontent with President-elect Donald Trump, who will begin his second term after Monday's inauguration ceremony.

Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and his administration have been vocal about deporting as many undocumented immigrants as possible over the following 4 years, supporting anti-abortion initiatives and increasing funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public schools cuts – an agenda that… angers many within the deep blue Bay Area.

In Alameda, Elliott and Lea Mattice protested near City Hall together with dozens of others. “There is such a rise of fascism right now. It is our job to stand up to this and fight fascism and hate with love, acceptance and affirmation,” said Lea.

The couple moved to Alameda from Maryland last 12 months, hoping to settle in an area that was more “confident” and “welcoming.”

“The attitude here is very supportive,” Elliot said. “We're lucky to be in a place like this that has this level of connection and community to withstand what we see and where we go – the hate and the pain.”

The protests are harking back to those following Trump's first victory in 2016, when 1000’s gathered in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and San Jose to protest his victory over Hillary Clinton.

Donna Pedroza, who showed as much as Alameda's protest Saturday morning, said she was devastated when Trump first took office. But now, eight years later, she is able to fight back.

“The loss to Hillary in 2016 was truly devastating,” Pedroza said. “But him getting re-elected really fired me up. Even when I’m 78, I’ll go down swinging.”

Alameda's event was organized by local representatives of the People's March, a nationwide coalition of organizations that’s organizing marches across the country this weekend, including in Washington, D.C. Thousands gathered within the nation's capital on Saturday in solidarity with reproductive rights Women and other concerns They imagine they’re threatened by the brand new government.

In Mountain View, greater than 200 protesters lined up on the sidewalks of a busy downtown intersection, carrying signs that read “Save Our Democracy” and chanting “Resist, Defend, Stand Up.” The protest was organized by local activists and Together We Will, a national political motion and civic engagement organization with local representatives.

“Nobody wanted to have to be here, nobody wanted to oppose another Trump administration,” said Ida Rose Sylvester, one among the organizers. “It’s wonderful to see how many people care about each other, support their community and still look to the future with optimism.”

Kristine Kopp showed up on the protest waving a 1.5-meter-long pink flag that featured a black outline of a uterus and the words “Come and Take It.” The Cupertino resident desired to stand in solidarity for ladies's rights, which she said are being taken away because the Trump administration attempts to impose further restrictions on reproductive rights, including abortion.

“I think Trump is undoing everything we've done for women's rights over the last 50 to 75 years,” Kopp said, waving her flag with each hands on the sidewalk where oncoming motorists and other passersby could see it.

Originally published: January 18, 2025 at 3:05 pm PST

Nigerians took to the streets in August 2024 to specific their frustration over a series of presidency policies. These measures were ostensibly designed to make Nigeria more attractive to foreign investment.

The abolition of fuel subsidies and the abolition of the economic peg between the Nigerian naira and the US dollar have sent the Nigerian economy right into a tailspin.

Many Nigerians depend on government subsidies to make ends meet. The economic policy changes have led to 1 big increase in inflation, which increases challenges for atypical Nigerians.

As the economic situation has worsened, the importance of corruption in government has increased. There have been protests and riots on the streets across the country in the shape of #EndBadGovernance protests denounce government criminality and poor governance.

Is government corruption driving protests and social movements? While some scholars have done so argued Others already know that that is the case argued that corruption is commonly a collective term for frustration with general economic and democratic ills. Others have noted that in some cases increased perceptions of corruption are related to less protest.

These contradictory results reveal a crucial puzzle: Why does corruption only sometimes appear to trigger mass riots? For example, if corruption is sufficient to trigger civil uprisings, why are consistent anti-police protests rare in countries like Nigeria, where police corruption exists? widespread?

I argue that a key to this puzzle is the way in which through which several types of corruption are related to increased or decreased protest mobilization.

I’m a political scientist Their work focuses partially on African social movements and corruption issues. I approach this by combining large statistical models with political psychology approaches.

I conducted Research in 2021 about several types of corruption shaping protests. I discovered that elite corruption had the facility to mobilize protest. But that other types of corruption – akin to police corruption – can be less more likely to lead people to protest.

The conclusion of my findings is that anti-corruption protests are an imperfect signal for understanding on a regular basis experiences of corruption. The indisputable fact that people aren't protesting doesn't mean there's nothing to complain about.

Why corruption sparks protests among the many elite

To explain why corruption sometimes goes hand in hand with protest movements and sometimes not, I believe it is sensible to think about two forms of corruption. Elite corruption refers to types of bribery and venality by political elites who either want to complement themselves or reshape the political system to their advantage.

Police corruption refers to acts of self-enrichment or abuse by law enforcement officials, often during traffic stops or as a part of police procedures.

My results show that residents are generally more more likely to mobilize in response to elite corruption than to police corruption. Why?

First, elite corruption tends to be linked to macro-level economic crises and scandals.

Second, elite corruption represents a universal focus for protesters across the country, relatively than the highly localized experiences of police and bureaucratic bribery.

Finally, anger over police corruption could also be suppressed by the safety concerns related to demonstrations against armed security forces.

I tested this argument using two methods. First, using a household survey I conducted in five Nigerian states in 2017, I examined whether exposure to vignettes describing elite or police corruption influenced a respondent's self-reported willingness to take part in a protest.

Elite corruption vignettes included self-serving and system-altering types of corruption perpetrated by political elites. The police corruption vignette focused on the solicitation of bribes and the unfair detention of residents by the police. I then asked the respondents:

Many Nigerians join groups that participate in protests, strikes or demonstrations. Now I would really like to ask you ways willing you can be to hitch a protest or demonstration.

Respondents could select a solution between 1 (“not ready at all”) to five (“very ready/already already”).

I discovered that folks who received the elite corruption vignette were statistically more more likely to say they’d join a protest or demonstration.

I then prolonged this evaluation with a statistical regression that measured whether perceptions of elite and police corruption (source: Afrobarometer dataset) correlated with different levels of observed conflict (source: Database for analyzing social conflicts).

I assumed it best to check whether the outcomes of my survey experiment, capturing a moment in time, reflected a broader reality or whether it was only a coincidence.

Using Afrobarometer data, I identified regions where residents expressed particularly high or low perceptions of elite and police corruption. I then used the information to investigate social conflicts to measure the variety of protest events in these regions.

I discovered that while elite corruption perceptions were positively correlated with an increased variety of observed protest events, police corruption perceptions weren’t.

Taken together, these methods suggest that it isn’t enough to argue that residents will stand up against corrupt governments. What matters more is how corrupt a government is.

Looking back on the protests in August 2024, one might ask: Why now? Why did Nigerians protest for ten days against corruption if there was any? rampant corruption for therefore long?

My research suggests that it depends upon the character of the corruption allegations—particularly anger over large-scale government bribery.

Recent developments appear to support this.

What has modified?

First, perceptions of corruption have increased. In 2021, Afrobarometer surveyed 1,600 Nigerians and asked them whether levels of corruption had increased, remained the identical or decreased over the past 12 months. At the time, just over 35% said that corruption had “increased significantly.” A 12 months later, that number had almost doubled and was slightly below 65%.

This dramatic increase in perceived corruption reveals a general lack of trust in the federal government and concern for the longer term of the country.

Second, tipping points help with mobilization. The protests in early August arose because the financial crisis worsened and a series of economic policy measures clearly highlighted the economic differences between wealthy and poor.

The abolition of fuel subsidies is a very sensitive issue in Nigerian politics. In 2012Nigerians took to the streets over the identical issue, resulting in a week-long “occupation” of major Nigerian cities by protesters.

Implications

Protests are a clearly visible signal of residents' frustration; However, it is simple to overlook the indisputable fact that while residents are indignant a few wide selection of issues, they’re only willing to specific their opinions on a few of these issues.

This has a knock-on effect; namely, that police corruption has a more direct impact on the lives of Nigerians than elite corruption, but often goes unaddressed.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tens of hundreds of grieving and offended Israelis poured into the streets Sunday night after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, chanting “Now! Now!” and demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas to bring the remaining prisoners home.

The mass demonstration was apparently the biggest of its kind in 11 months of war. Protesters said it felt like a possible turning point, despite the fact that the country is deeply divided.

Israel's largest union, the Histadrut, put further pressure on the federal government by calling a general strike for Monday, the primary because the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war. The strike goals to shut or disrupt key sectors of the economy, including banking, health care and the country's primary airport.

Negotiations for a ceasefire have dragged on for months, with many blaming Netanyahu for the failure to succeed in an agreement, despite opinion polls showing a majority of Israelis in favor. But the prime minister also has significant support for his strategy of “total victory” against Hamas, even when an agreement on the hostages must wait.

Thousands of individuals gathered outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem on Sunday evening, a few of them crying. In Tel Aviv, relatives of the hostages marched with coffins to symbolize the victims.

“We really believe that the government is making these decisions to protect itself and not to protect the lives of the hostages, and we have to tell them, 'Stop!'” said Shlomit Hacohen, a Tel Aviv resident.

Three of the six hostages found dead – including an Israeli-American citizen – were reportedly set to be released as a part of the primary phase of a ceasefire proposal discussed in July, adding to anger and frustration amongst protesters.

“Nothing is worse than knowing they could have been saved,” said Dana Loutaly. “Sometimes it takes something so terrible to wake people up and get them out on the streets.”

The military said all six hostages were killed shortly before Israeli forces arrived. “Those who murder hostages do not want a deal,” Netanyahu said, blaming the militant Hamas for the deadlock in negotiations.

One of the hostages was 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin from Berkeley, California, who lost a part of his left arm to a grenade within the attack. In April, a video released by Hamas showed him alive, sparking latest protests in Israel.

The army identified the others as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33; and Carmel Gat, 40.

Israel's Health Ministry said autopsies showed the hostages were shot at close range and died on Thursday or Friday. The army said the bodies were recovered from a tunnel within the southern Gaza town of Rafah, about 800 meters from where one other hostage was rescued alive last week.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesman, said Israeli forces found the bodies several dozen meters underground while “continuous fighting” was underway, but there was no shooting within the tunnel itself. He said there was little question Hamas had killed them.

Hamas has offered the discharge of the hostages in exchange for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the discharge of numerous Palestinian prisoners, including high-ranking militants.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the hostages would still be alive if Israel had accepted a US-backed ceasefire proposal that Hamas said it agreed to in July.

The funerals began with even greater outrage. Sarusi's body was draped in an Israeli flag. “You were abandoned again and again, day after day, hour after hour, 331 days,” said his mother Nira. “You and so many beautiful and pure souls.”

Divisions in Israel and the federal government

Netanyahu has vowed to proceed the fighting until Hamas is destroyed.

Senior security officials say the large pressure on Hamas has created favorable conditions for a ceasefire. The army, which knows the difficulties of rescue operations, has acknowledged that a deal is the one method to bring large numbers of hostages home safely.

But critics accused the prime minister of putting his personal interests above those of the hostages. The end of the war will likely result in an investigation into his government's failings within the October 7 attacks, the collapse of the federal government and the early elections.

Some analysts said the general public outcry over the deaths of the six hostages may very well be an indication of a brand new level of political pressure on Netanyahu.

“I think this is an earthquake. This is not just another step in the war,” said Nomi Bar-Yaacov, associate fellow within the International Security Program at Chatham House, shortly before the protests on Sunday.

Disagreements have also emerged inside the federal government, with senior military and security officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, warning that point is running out.

Israeli television station Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu and Gallant clashed at a security cabinet meeting on Thursday, with Gallant accusing him of putting control of a strategic corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border – a significant sticking point within the talks – above the lives of the hostages.

An Israeli official confirmed the report and said three of the hostages – Goldberg-Polin, Yerushalmi and Gat – were to have been released in the primary phase of a ceasefire proposal discussed in July. The official was not authorized to transient the media on the negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“On behalf of the State of Israel, I carry their families in my heart and ask for forgiveness,” Gallant said on Sunday. The cabinet met on Sunday evening.

A forum of hostage families called for a “complete shutdown of the country” to force a ceasefire and the discharge of the hostages.

Even a mass outburst of anger wouldn’t pose a right away threat to Netanyahu or his far-right government. He still has a majority in parliament, but he has caved to public pressure before. A general strike last yr helped delay his controversial judicial reforms.

The spectacular campaign of a family

Goldberg-Polin's parents, U.S.-born immigrants to Israel, became perhaps the hostages' most high-profile relatives on the international stage, meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and Pope Francis and speaking on the Democratic National Convention on August 21 to sustained applause and shouts of “Bring him home.”

Biden said on Sunday that he was “devastated and outraged.” The White House said he had spoken to Goldberg-Polin's parents and expressed their condolences.

On October 7, around 250 hostages were taken. Israel believes that 101 hostages remain in captivity, of whom 35 are presumed dead. More than 100 were released during a ceasefire in November in exchange for the discharge of Palestinians held captive in Israel. Eight were rescued by Israeli forces. Israeli troops mistakenly killed three Israelis who escaped from captivity in December.

When militants led by Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, they killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. According to local health authorities, greater than 40,000 Palestinians were killed within the Israeli retaliatory offensive within the Gaza Strip. They didn’t provide any information on the variety of fighters.

On Sunday, an Israeli strike hit a automobile on a road within the southern Gaza Strip, killing 4 Palestinians, based on officials at Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and an AP journalist who counted the bodies.

The war has forced the overwhelming majority of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants to flee, often multiple times, and plunged the besieged territory right into a humanitarian catastrophe.

___

Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Danica Kirka in London and Darlene Superville in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed to this report.

Originally published: September 1, 2024 at 1:36 p.m.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has expressed his intention to deploy the US armed forces if he’s re-elected to suppress protests at homeThe New York Times reports that Trump's allies are making legal arguments to justify the usage of the National Guard or energetic military troops for crowd control.

In addition, because the Times notes, Trump has stated that when he returns to the White House, he’ll send such forces without waiting for state or local authorities to request such assistance.

I’m a historian who has written several books in regards to the Vietnam War, one of the crucial divisive episodes in our country's history. My recent book, “Kent State: An American Tragedy”, examines a historic duel on May 4, 1970between anti-war demonstrators and National Guard troops at Kent State University in Ohio.

The confrontation escalated and escalated into violence: troops opened fire on the protesters, killing 4 students and injuring nine others, including one who was left paralyzed for all times.

In my view, the prospect of sending troops in the way proposed by Trump is frighteningly harking back to the actions that led to the shootings at Kent State University. energetic unitsin addition to National Guard troopsat the moment are trained to answer riots and violent protests – but their primary job continues to be to fight, kill and win wars.

Federalization of the National Guard

The National Guard is a force of state militia under the command of the governors. It might be nationalized by the president in times of national emergency or to be used in combat missions abroad. The guardsmen train one weekend a month and two weeks in the summertime.

Typically, the Guard was used to cope with natural disasters and to help local police in urban unrest, comparable to riots in Detroit in 1967, Washington in 1968Los Angeles in 1965 and 1992And Minneapolis and other cities in 2020 after the death of George Floyd.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 grants the President the authority to deploy energetic duty troops or National Guard forces to revive order within the United States. However, Presidents rarely deploy National Guard troops without the approval of the state governor.

The most significant modern exceptions occurred in the course of the civil rights movement, when southern governors defied federal government orders to desegregate schools. Arkansas, Mississippi And AlabamaIn each case, the troops were sent to guard black students from crowds of white protesters.

The stalemate at Kent State

The war in Vietnam had turn into increasingly unpopular by early 1970, but protests intensified on April 30, when President Richard Nixon approved Expansion of the conflict to CambodiaAt Kent State University, drunken students harassed passing motorists and smashed store windows after an anti-war rally on campus on May 1. On May 2, set the constructing on fire where military officers trained Kent State students participating within the Armed Forces Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

In response, Republican Governor Jim Rhodes deployed National Guard troops, against the recommendation of the university and lots of local officials who understood the mood in the town of Kent and on campus much better than Rhodes. District Attorney Ron Kane had Rhodes warned urgently that the deployment of the National Guard could trigger conflicts and lead to deaths.

Still, Rhodes – who was trailing in an upcoming Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat – portrayed himself as a decisive politician who wouldn’t be pushed around by a long-haired mob. “We're going to put an end to this!” he shouted, banging on the table at a May 3 news conference in Kent.

Hundreds of National Guard troops were deployed throughout the town and on campus. University officials announced that further demonstrations were bannedNevertheless, on May 4, about 2,000 to three,000 students gathered on campus for an additional anti-war rally. They were confronted by 96 National Guardsmen led by eight officers.

There was an air of confrontation as student anger over Nixon's escalation of the war mixed with resentment over the Guard's presence. Protesters chanted anti-war slogans, insulted the Guardsmen and made obscene gestures.

“Fire in the air!”

The guardsmen sent to Kent State had no training in how you can defuse tensions or minimize the usage of force. Yet their commanding officer that day, Ohio Army National Guard Assistant Adjutant General Robert Canterbury, decided to make use of them to interrupt up what the Justice Department later considered a lawful assembly.

In my opinion, it was a reckless decision that escalated an already explosive situation. The students began throwing rocks and other objects on the vastly outnumbered Guardsmen. In violation of Ohio Army National Guard regulations, Canterbury didn’t warn the scholars that the guards' rifles were loaded with live ammunition.

As tensions mounted, Canterbury didn’t adequately supervise his increasingly anxious troops – a primary responsibility of the commanding officer on the bottom. This fundamental failure of leadership increased confusion and led to a breakdown in fire control discipline – the responsibility of officers to tightly control their troops' weapons discharges.

As the demonstrators approached the guards, Platoon Leader Mathew McManus shouted “Fire in the air!” in a desperate try and prevent bloodshed. McManus wanted the troops to fireside over the scholars' heads to warn them. But some guardsmen, wearing gas masks that made it difficult for them to listen to within the noise and confusion, heard or reacted only to the primary word of McManus' order and fired at the scholars.

The troops weren’t trained to fireside warning shots, which was against National Guard regulations, and McManus had no authority to offer an order to fireside when officers were nearby, which was the case.

Many National Guardsmen who were at Kent State on May 4 later wondered why that they had been deployed there. “Loaded rifles and fixed bayonets are pretty harsh measures for students exercising their freedom of speech on an American campus,” one in every of them said. told an oral history interviewerAnother asked me plaintively in an interview in 2023: “Why would you send soldiers trained to kill to a university campus to perform a police function?”

A fighting force

The National Guard's equipment and training have improved significantly within the a long time since Kent State. But the Guardsmen are still troops trained fundamentally to fight, not to regulate crowds. In 2020, then-National Guard Bureau chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel told reporters that “the mission of combating civil unrest is one in every of the most difficult and dangerous missions … in our domestic portfolio.”

In my view, the Kent State tragedy highlights the importance of authorities responding thoughtfully to protests and being extremely cautious when deploying military forces. Violence is inherently unpredictable, often uncontrollable, and may result in fatal mistakes and lasting human suffering. And while protests sometimes break rules, they is probably not disruptive or harmful enough to warrant a violent response.

Aggressive demonstrations of violence often increase tensions and worsen the situation. Conversely, studies show that when protesters feel that the authorities are being restrained and treating them with respect, remain relatively non-violentThe shooting at Kent State University shows why violence should only be a final resort when coping with protests – and why it carries great risks.

By SOPHIA TAREEN, LEA SKENE, JAKE OFFENHARTZ and JOEY CAPPELLETTI, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — As for Chicago's famous protests, the numbers ahead of the Democratic National Convention weren't remarkable. But organizers say they did something that leaders inside didn't: the war in Gaza Part of the agenda.

The missions were high for Chicago. Although more political rallies happen than in another American city, comparisons with the infamous congress of 1968when police clashed with protesters on live television were hard to shake. And a small unauthorized protest which led to dozens of arrests, and the tense clashes between the police didn’t help matters.

But the organizers Who won the correct to protest near the United Center and the police, who spent greater than a yr Preparationsay they succeeded in spreading different views in regards to the country's third largest city.

“This is a very large group of people who are not willing to stand by and watch people commit genocide in our city,” said student organizer Liz Rathburn. “We showed that to the world.”

Expectations for enormous protests in Chicago – which took place one month after the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee – were high. biggest protest In Milwaukee, about 1,000 people were present through the convention.

Chicago is understood for its mass mobilizations, including in 2006, when almost half 1,000,000 People took to the streets to demand the rights of immigrants.

Organizers had predicted that as much as 20,000 people would attend a march and rally on the opening day of the convention. While they acknowledged that the number ultimately was not that top, they disputed the town's much lower estimate of about 3,500 attendees.

Hatem Abudayyeh, a lead organizer and co-founder of the US Palestinian Community Network, said he was pleased with the turnout and message of the mostly family-friendly demonstrations, which included the Chicago-area's large Palestinian population.

Although activists supporting quite a few progressive causes got here to Chicago, they were united by a pro-Palestinian, anti-war message.

“We were the show,” Abudayyeh said. “The excitement was out here on the street.”

Most of the key protests were relatively peaceful, but dozens of arrests were made after a bunch blocked a part of the Security fence across the United Center and after an unauthorized demonstration in front of the Israeli consulate.

Chicago Police Commissioner Larry Snelling, who has been highly visible in any respect major protests, said police leadership and communication with protest organizers contributed to the calm across the convention. While Chicago Police authorities outside the town Although they helped with security on the convention, Chicago police forces were left alone to handle the protests.

During the most important protest marches, a whole lot of Chicago cops lined the streets on bicycles and guided protesters through the residential streets surrounding the United Center.

“We learned here that preparation is everything,” Snelling said Thursday. “Success requires two things: opportunity and preparation. We had the opportunity to respond to the Democratic National Convention, and we were prepared.”

However, the police have also been criticized for his or her tactics and excessive police presence. In Milwaukee, the police were conspicuously absent from the most important protests against the convention.

At an indication outside the Israeli consulate in downtown Chicago – organized by a bunch outside the major activist coalition – police far outnumbered dozens of protesters.

Lines of police in riot gear and wielding wood batons cordoned off a busy street in the town center to corral protesters. At one point, police surrounded protesters in a square, leading to several minor injuries and dozens of arrests.

Snelling praised the officers' actions but denied that police “encircled” protesters – a tactic banned in Chicago under a settlement decree. He called the response “proportionate.”

In total, there have been 74 arrests from Monday to Thursday and no serious injuries to protesters or cops occurred, Snelling said.

Nevertheless, the photographs of the clashes between Chicago police and demonstrators brought back memories of 1968.

The demonstration in front of the consulate was promoted with the slogan “Make it great like '68.” Whenever police and protesters approached, activists began chanting “The whole world is watching,” a slogan utilized in the 1968 protests.

Snelling and City guide have repeatedly identified that Chicago has evolved within the greater than 50 years since its founding, including by hosting the Democratic National Convention in 1996, which went largely easily.

“If the 1968 convention went down in history as an example of police brutality, then the 2024 convention will go down in history as an example of constitutional policing,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Friday.

Snelling put it more clearly: “Can we stop talking about 1968? 2024 is a new standard.”

Activists also took responsibility for the largely peaceful protests, saying they’d their very own security forces and followed city regulations.

A small group of delegates who’re a part of the “unbound” movement expressed dissatisfaction that they might not speak through the meeting and complained that mentions of Palestinians – who make up the overwhelming majority of 40,000 dead killed in Gaza since October – were sparse. During the congressional program on Wednesday, the parents of a 23-year-old American who was kidnapped hostage by Hamas through the October 7 attack in southern Israel. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

However, activists admitted that the group was smaller than expected.

Some protesters speculated that recent Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris could have kept some people home. While she was labeled an adjunct to the war on signs and in chants on the protests, many said they’d wait until she announced her plans for U.S. involvement within the war.

“I am curious to see what she is doing for health care. I am worried about her policies on Palestine and Gaza,” said Palestinian Fedaa Balouta. “Our voice counts.”

Bayan Ruyyashi, a 30-year-old biologist from suburban Chicago, said she had little hope that the protests, no matter their size, would have a noticeable impact on convention attendees.

Rather, she said she had participated in a March on Wednesday in order that their three children – aged 8, 5 and 6 months – could experience this sign of community and solidarity.

“I want them to feel that we have support. This is not just what we hear from the Democrats,” said Ruyyashi, whose family is Palestinian and Jordanian. “They need to know that we are fighting for our homeland.”

Originally published: August 23, 2024 at 10:39 am

On the third day of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago police beat protesters in a scuffle on Michigan Avenue. iconic images of this close combat have since been in almost every Documentary about America within the Nineteen Sixties or in regards to the war in Vietnam.

But these should not the one images from those dark days. In fact, Chicagoans have recently been rewatching a few of the very best movies of the era, as interest in stories in regards to the history of the Democratic National Convention during that violent and tumultuous 12 months is big, sparked by the choice to carry the convention this 12 months in the identical city where the riots had previously occurred.

In late spring 2024, 4 short 1969 Documentaries of the Chicago Film Group were shown in Chicago Cultural Center. Film Group was a successful promoting producer for clients similar to Kentucky Fried Chicken. In the summer of 1966, they expanded their repertoire to incorporate political movies when Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference got here to town to take part in an ultimately futile Fighting discrimination when on the lookout for housing.

The theater was filled with journalists, octogenarian activists and a handful of 50-year-olds. like meeveryone is happy to see these gripping documentaries, which contain not only famous shots of Michigan Avenue, but in addition images which were much less circulated since 1968.

This included Mayor Richard Daley, who declared after King’s assassination that the police should “Shoot to kill arsonists” and “Shoot to maim or cripple any looter“ – suggestions that, as he later claimed, he had never made.

“Devastating indictment” against Daley

At the tip of July 2024, the Music Box Theatre showed one other short film from the Film Groupfollowed by Haskell Wexler’s “Medium Cool“, a drama about an almost completely amoral television news cameraman.

The film tells its story in two alternative ways. One scripted and at times relatively stiff storyline follows a budding relationship between the cameraman and a young woman from Appalachia. The other, connected story is unscripted and more explicitly political. It includes documentary footage of the road violence of 1968 and interviews with black activists, and raises questions on media ethics and the policies of Daley's police force.

Ultimately, the film is a scathing indictment of each Daley's “law and order” tactics – language Daley used that was paying homage to Richard Nixon – and tv itself. It celebrates the film's depth while exposing the superficial superficiality of what snobs once called “idiot box” television.

The house was full. To my right sat a movie student who was there on the insistence of his professor. The place was indeed filled with young film buffs, enraptured by an introduction by Julian Antos of the Chicago Film Societywho celebrated the undeniable fact that the town finally has its own recent 35mm print of this most Chicago-esque film. Dibbell added one other detail that thrilled film geeks: He explained that the film's roller derby scene reintroduced a fun song that was long missing from the streaming and DVD versions of “Medium Cool” as a consequence of rights issues.

To my left sat three older men who had worked with Wexler within the Nineteen Seventies. One had seen Medium Cool several times, however it had been some time since. He later accurately noted that an excellent editor could have cut 20 minutes to tighten up the film's skewed pace.

When I saw it again for the umpteenth time, I used to be particularly struck by the gaps within the political context, that are in contrast to the Film Group productions. “Medium Cool” offers a sharp criticism of violence and media exploitation this violence, and reference is made to Chicago's Red Squad – a police surveillance unit directed against communists and others are considered “radical” – that will have escaped many viewers then and now.

However, Wexler assumed that viewers in 1969 already knew most of the small print of the 1968 presidential campaign. What does this mean for viewers today who should not taken with the story greater than half a century later?

“I won’t take it anymore”

As I left the theater, I finished to talk over with an brisk young woman who was preparing for a march in support of reproductive and queer rights. and against the Democratic Convention and the genocide within the Gaza Strip.

She felt that Kamala Harris was not that different from Joe Biden and that neither politician was greater than barely higher than Donald Trump. As for the film, she didn't care in any respect in regards to the hero, but she said the sound design was exceptional – fair criticism and appropriate praise.

It appeared like Medium Cool didn't teach her all that much about 1968, and yet her stance on systemic injustice resonated with me as a historian. Few activists got here to the 1968 Democratic National Convention to support presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey or to attack Nixon. These men simply weren't the main target. They were there to protest the entire rattling crisis of American politics.

The 12 months is 2024, not 1968, but movies about this era in American politics capture a sense that’s resurfacing nearly 60 years later. It is probably going that the streets of Chicago will soon be filled again with individuals who, as protagonist Howard Beale said in his famous tirade within the film Network, “I'm mad as hell and I won't take this anymore.”

This story has been updated with the proper name of Chicago Film Society staff author Julian Antos.

SAN FRANCISCOTwenty-six people accused of blocking the Golden Gate Bridge in April to protest the war in Gaza have been charged with a variety of crimes, with eight of them facing criminal conspiracy charges, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Saturday morning.

The protests took place on April 15 in the course of the morning rush hour on a weekday. Protesters chained themselves to vehicles and blocked traffic from 8 a.m. to noon. That same day, protesters also blocked Interstate 880 in Oakland, demanding an end to the war and U.S. military support for Israel.

All 26 defendants are charged with false imprisonment, trespassing to disrupt a business, obstructing a course of passage, illegal assembly, failure to disperse in a riot and failure to obey a uniformed officer. Eight individuals are charged with aggravated conspiracy, while the opposite 18 are charged with minor conspiracy.

Arrest warrants have been issued for all those charged and must turn themselves in to the California Highway Patrol no later than Monday, August 12, Jenkins said in an announcement.

“While we must protect the opportunities for free speech, the exercise of free speech must not compromise public safety,” Jenkins said. “The demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge posed a security risk, including extreme threats to the health and well-being of those trapped, that we as a society cannot ignore or allow.”

On a typical weekday, about 20,000 cars travel across the Golden Gate Bridge, based on data from the Golden Gate Bridge Transit Authority. The Golden Gate Bridge District is estimated to have lost over $162,000 in revenue as a consequence of the April 15 protest.

Among those stranded on the bridge were a patient who missed a pre-operative brain surgery appointment and a surgeon who needed to cancel and reschedule his surgical schedule for a whole day.

Originally published: August 10, 2024 at 11:06 am

schools

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — Since her arrest at a protest on the University of Massachusetts, Annie McGrew has needed to shuttle between two hearings: one for the minor misdemeanor charges against her that she faces in court and one other for violating the university's code of conduct.

This prevented the doctoral student from working on completing her dissertation in economics.

“It's been a really rough few months for me since my arrest,” McGrew said. “I never imagined the UMass administration would react like this.”

In the spring, around 3,200 people were arrested during a wave of pro-Palestinian encampments against the Gaza war. While some colleges ended the demonstrations by making agreements with students or just holding them out, others called the police when protesters refused to depart.

Charges have been dropped against many students, but cases remain pending for a whole lot of individuals on the campuses where many of the arrests occurred, in accordance with an evaluation of information collected by The Associated Press and partner newsrooms.

In addition to the legal gray area, these students also face uncertainty about their academic careers. Some remain steadfast, saying they’d have chosen to protest even in the event that they had known the implications. Others are scuffling with the aftermath of the arrests and are doubtful about whether or not they should remain enrolled at university in any respect.

In St. Louis, Valencia Alvarez is waiting to listen to the final result of possible charges against her and 99 others in reference to an April 27 protest at Washington University that lasted lower than half a day.

Twenty-three of those arrested were students. In June, the university offered them two options: they may face a hearing before the Office of Student Conduct or “accept responsibility” and forgo further investigation. Alvarez selected the primary option.

“I don't really intend to remain silent on this, and I think that's the goal of the second option,” Alvarez said.

The demonstrations took place at private and non-private universities, on campuses large and small, in the town and the countryside. When students return in the autumn, colleges are preparing for more protests against the Israeli military and Hamas and considering strategies corresponding to when to call within the police – decisions which have had lasting effects.

Some college administrators said calling the police was the one option to end the protests, which disrupted graduation ceremonies, disrupted campus life and included anti-Semitic signs and language.

Student groups and a few faculty members have sharply criticized the university administration for allowing police into its premises, saying peaceful demonstrations were often crushed with unnecessary violence.

The overwhelming majority of cases against protesters – from students and college to individuals with no connection to the colleges – involve misdemeanors or lesser charges, corresponding to trespassing, failure to disperse, disturbing the peace and resisting arrest.

More serious charges were brought against protesters who occupied a Columbia University campus constructing. Some of them were initially arrested for trespassing, but those charges were reduced to minor misdemeanors and charges against dozens of scholars were dropped. In a call criticized by Jewish groups, prosecutors said there was no evidence of property damage and not one of the students had criminal records.

Prosecutors in several cities are still considering whether to file charges, but in lots of cases officials have indicated they don’t intend to pursue minor violations, in accordance with an AP evaluation of information on campuses with at the very least 100 arrests.

In upstate New York, the Ulster County district attorney asked judges to dismiss 129 cases related to arrests on the State University of New York at New Paltz.

“I have concluded that it is best to dismiss these charges now and relieve all parties involved and the courts of further burden, expense and use of scarce public and judicial resources,” District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji wrote in June.

New Paltz students said they sat with their arms crossed as officers led them away on May 2.

“It was very brutal,” said Maddison Tirado, a student whose trespassing charges were dropped. Tirado said the protesters were treated as if authorities viewed them “like little terrorists running around.”

One student protester, Ezra Baptist, said he was hospitalized with a concussion and a cut after he was thrown forward and hit his head during his arrest by police. Because of his injury, he was told to avoid screens and was unable to finish a course he needed to graduate in May.

State police said if anyone believes officers acted inappropriately, they need to file a report so the case could be investigated. Another local law enforcement agency, the county sheriff's office, said officers showed restraint and one officer was injured when protesters threw bottles.

Tension has been high on university campuses since October 7, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. According to local health authorities, greater than 39,000 Palestinians were killed within the Israeli offensive.

For some students, the impact on their academic careers was more serious than any legal risks.

Washington University recently began conduct hearings for arrested students, but no disciplinary decisions have been made. Alvarez also doesn’t have the master's degree in public health that she would have received by now had she not been arrested.

Alvarez, who plans to work in social justice and community work in the longer term, said she has no regrets. But that doesn't mean the protest didn't come at a price.

“I want that degree,” Alvarez said. “I worked four jobs during my two years at Washington University so I could afford tuition without having to take out loans.”

At Emerson College in Boston, 118 people were arrested when police were called to implement a city ordinance against camping on public property. All were charged with disturbing the peace and received a “pre-arraignment plea,” meaning no charges might be filed in exchange for 40 hours of community service, prosecutors said.

Owen Buxton, a student at Emerson University, said he suffered a concussion when police pushed him right into a bronze statue. It was his second arrest this semester for protesting the war in Gaza. The experience made it difficult for him to pay attention or attend class.

“It stifled all my creativity. I didn't do anything that wasn't typical of me for months,” said Buxton, a filmmaker.

After an outcry over the arrests, Emerson allowed students to finish the semester pass or fail.

A Boston police spokesman said anyone with concerns can file a criticism with the interior affairs office. Police had previously said there have been no injuries in Emerson's arrests.

At the UMass campus in Amherst, students recalled a peaceful demonstration of singing and dancing before police arrived. It was the second tent camp arrange by students this week. UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes said he ordered the eviction after talks with protesters failed.

“Let me be clear – involving law enforcement is an absolute last resort,” Reyes wrote to the campus community.

The police response, including 117 police vehicles on campus, unsettled the protesters. McGrew recalls police in riot gear charging toward the group of scholars. A complete of 134 people were arrested.

While the arrestees were being processed within the university's sports arena, they felt humiliated by campus police, said transgender student Charles Sullivan. One officer, Sullivan said, forced them to loudly describe their genitals with the intention to gain access to a restroom.

Sullivan has since decided to depart the university to proceed his studies, partly due to the arrest. Having just accomplished his master's degree in anthropology, Sullivan will move to Ohio in the autumn to pursue his doctorate quite than proceed his studies at UMass.

“I think more than anything I'm just ready to get out of here,” Sullivan said.

Numerous campus organizations have reprimanded Reyes for the usage of police, including the UMass Faculty Senate, which issued a vote of no confidence within the chancellor.

In June, Reyes announced the creation of a task force to review campus policies on protests, including the land use policy that a lot of those arrested are believed to have violated.

The group is just starting its work, said Anthony Paik, a member of the college senate and co-chair of the duty force. More information might be available by the tip of August, just before the beginning of the brand new school 12 months, he said.

Protests after elections should not unusual in Venezuela. In 2018, people took to the streets to Competition President Nicolás Maduro re-election; She 2019 again when the Venezuelan opposition arrested National Assembly member Juan Guaidó as interim president and thereby disregarded a vote that they believed was rigged.

It is subsequently not surprising that Large-scale demonstrations within the country after Maduro claimed victory again, this time against his challenger Edmundo González within the controversial election on July 28, 2024.

Many within the country had seen the vote as a chance to win six more years of “Chavismo” – a political project that Maduro inherited from former president and left-wing populist Hugo Chávez. Maduro has led the country since 2013, even though it is a severe economic crisisthe results of a mix of falling oil prices, Corruption and mismanagementAnd international sanctionsThe crisis has led to massive inflation And Food shortageswhere nearly all of the population is faced with the selection of living in poverty or leave the country.

But the present protests – sparked by the disputed election results and fuelled by years of economic crisis – are different. Our evaluation of reports reports, social media and the protests themselves shows that they’re affecting a broader section of society than prior to now. Among them are many poor and working-class Venezuelans – the very groups from which Chavismo traditionally draws support.

The big query now is whether or not this more diverse base of protesters can have any impact or whether Maduro will have the option to weather the post-election unrest through repressive tactics, as he has done prior to now.

Controversial result

Given Maduro's claimed victory, protests were all the time likely.

The Fairness of the elections was questioned Months before the actual election because of government interference, akin to the disqualification of Maria Corina Machado – the de facto leader of the opposition – and the arrest of campaign employees and activists.

While the opposition was quick to call for a boycott of the elections prior to now, Machado and her alternative candidate González remained true to their election campaign this time.

The Venezuelan Electoral Council released the outcomes shortly after midnight on July 29, indicating that Maduro won with 51.2% of the votewhile González received 44.2%. This is in contrast to post-election polls and documents collected by the opposition in around 40% of polling stations, which show that González wins with 70% the vote.

The opposition immediately questioned the outcomes, claiming they’d not been verified. International observers Raise doubts in regards to the validity of the result.

The Carter Center, which has been conducting international election commentary in Venezuela for years, published an announcement He said the presidential election couldn’t be considered democratic, adding that the vote “did not meet international standards of electoral integrity at any of its stages and violated numerous provisions of its own national laws.”

The statement added that the election took place “in an environment of restricted freedoms for political actors, civil society organizations and the media” and that there was “a clear bias in favor of the incumbent.”

The actions of the Maduro government have further fuelled speculation. According to the opposition, on the night of the election, documents utilized by citizen observers to confirm the outcomes were weren’t handed over in most polling stations. According to The Venezuelan journalist Eugenio MartínezBallot papers were only handed out in half of the country’s 30,026 polling stations.

The government has not yet released results that could possibly be used to verify or refute one side's claim to victory. Politicians from across the region, including Chilean President Gabriel Boric, the Biden administration and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have since called on Maduro to announce the total results.

Pots and pans protest

Protests against this lack of transparency began the day after the election and proceed. While such mobilization against the federal government has turn into a feature of Chavista Venezuela, the present protests are characterised by the range of individuals taking to the streets.

Venezuela's middle and upper classes have often taken to the streets en masse to oust Maduro from power, sometimes encouraged by radical opposition voices calling for undemocratic means to achieve this. This opposition has been fuelled by quite a lot of aspects, including the federal government's clear turnaround towards authoritarianism and power maneuvers which have undermined democratic institutions.

But this wave of protests was also characterised by mass participation by low-income and working-class people. While the protests by Venezuelans breaking out Although the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poorer neighborhoods in 2019 isn’t yet fully understood, it was smaller and fewer lasting than in recent days.

Videos of residents in poorer areas akin to Petare, CatiaValles del Tuy and other historical fortresses of Chavismo were shared on social media, with residents banging pots, burning tires and marching within the streets.

“Cacerolazos” – a conventional protest practice wherein pots and pans are banged together – could even be heard in the previous Chavista stronghold where the Mountain Barrackswhere the mausoleum of Chávez, who died in office in 2013, is situated.

Elsewhere, statues of Chávez and posters of Maduro were torn down and smashed in response to outrage over what was seen as blatant manipulation that went too far.

“You have gone too far” is a chorus This has been heard among the many demonstrators because the election.

While media have pointed to protests within the barrios – the term for urban, low-income neighborhoods in Venezuela – starting from spontaneous to somewhat more organized, the federal government has described the demonstrations as coordinated events of “fascist rights“ and funded by the United States.

Offer another

Maduro's refusal to acknowledge that his former supporters are actually protesting against him reveals the large gap that has opened up between Venezuela's Chavista government and its traditional base.

Of course, protests in poorer neighborhoods mustn’t be confused with committed support for the opposition. For years we now have observed that the people within the barrios of Venezuela distrust and are disillusioned with each the federal government and the opposition.

But these protests suggest that disgust with the present political system and outrage over alleged electoral fraud are the true reason for this discontent.

The protests are a response to years of crisis, corruption, fiscal irresponsibility and shortages which have torn families apart. 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country the country to flee these problems. The problems affect everyone in Venezuela, but are particularly devastating for low-income people.

At the identical time, Machado's growing popularity has made many Venezuelans more hopeful. After spending much time campaigning in rural and working-class communities, she and González appeared to offer an alternative choice to the present situation.

Maduro's response

The query now is whether or not this modification within the demographics of the protesters will make a difference.

The Maduro government has signaled that it will remain inflexible in view of the massive demonstrations, Take all essential measures to stay in power. Although that is unlikely, protests in poorer neighborhoods could persuade certain factions inside the federal government that Chavismo has lost the support of the people it claims to represent.

Pressure from inside the federal government itself, in addition to objections from regional leaders, could potentially influence Maduro's political calculations.

But past experience suggests a distinct response. After the waves of protests in 2017 and 2019, Maduro resorted to extreme repression by state security forces and non-state armed groups – often called “Collectives” – whose members are loyal to the federal government and have much to lose within the event of regime change. Government has unleashed massive lethal violence in poorer neighborhoods when it feels threatened. Much of this repression, consisting of police and military raids, was portrayed as crime fighting. But as our research has shown, it also goals to contain social unrest.

Maduro's response will likely include violence against traditional opposition groups which have long mobilized against the federal government, but we consider poorer Venezuelans, who’re turning out to protest in unprecedented numbers, will suffer essentially the most.

The summer brought an end, for now, to the anti-war protests that rocked college campuses across the United States through the spring semester of 2024. However, the Israeli assault on Gaza continues, and student protests could erupt again in the autumn, especially if the presidential election heightens political tensions.

Once again, college presidents across the United States could also be forced to make difficult and controversial decisions: Should they tolerate youthful civil disobedience, suppress dissent, or seek peaceful solutions?

My research on civil disobedience, deliberation and democracy offers a possibility to investigate this necessary query.

Threatening or peaceful protest?

Between November 2023 and May 2024, 1000’s of scholars greater than 120 Universities and colleges across the country arrange camps to protest Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. They also condemned their universities' investments and other ties to Israel, which they viewed as support for that war.

At some campuses, including Columbia, UC Irvine and Portland State University, students occupied buildings and sometimes Vandalized facilitieswhich led to widespread condemnation.

However, most student camps were peaceful and non-violent. Crowd Counting Consortiuma Harvard Kennedy School project that collects data on protests worldwide reports that protesters damaged property on only 10 campuses. Yet police arrested protesters at 60 schools. Those university presidents who asked either campus police or local police departments to intervene said they’d Protecting community members from violence and to make sure teaching, learning and research.

Nevertheless, half of all anti-war protests on campus dispersed with none arrests. Brown, Northwestern, Rutgers, Johns Hopkins University and other university presidents sought de-escalation, negotiations and other peaceful ways to resolve the conflict. After the administration agreed to measures comparable to transparency in investments, support for Palestinian students and academics, or easing sanctions against protesters, the scholars voluntarily dismantled their tents and went to check for final exams.

So when, if ever, should universities use police to combat student protests?

“Head of Damage”

The answer will depend on how disruptive the protests are.

Here is a scale to evaluate some levels of harm. It relies on recommendations from lawyers on the University of California Chris Edley and Charles Robinson after an attack of aggressive police motion against protesters at UC Davis in 2011.

The protest harm scale ranges from Level 1 – civil disobedience without disruption – to Level 4, which indicates a violent protest that poses an imminent threat to public safety. It provides a standard benchmark for many who disagree about whether the coed protesters are right or unsuitable, just or hateful, to collectively assess the extent of harm and disruption their protests are causing.

Opinions often differ on this issue. For example, through the anti-war rebellion on Harvard's campus within the spring of 2024, students and school expressed very different opinions about how disruptive the rebellion was.

“They set up forty tents, draped a keffiyeh over the iconic John Harvard statue, blared music from a loudspeaker, hoisted Palestinian flags over the university hall and sang through megaphones,” the professors said. Jeff Flier and Steven Pinker wrote within the Boston Globe. Their comments suggest that they found the Harvard camp unbearably disruptive—a level 3 on a scale of 1 to 4.

However, many students found the occupation of Harvard Yard to be unobtrusive – more like Level 1.

The Harvard Crimson interviewed 40 freshmen who lived on campus near the camp. “Almost all said that the camp did not significantly change their daily lives or prevent them from learning,” the Newspaper reportsOne student who “had a view of the camp from her dorm” compared the noise level to that of the tourists milling across the yard.

At other schools, teachers, administrators and students also got here to significantly different assessments of their camps within the Gaza Strip.

After armed police used chemical weapons and electric shocks to disperse protesters at Emory University, Finally, no less than 28 people were arrestedwrote University President Gregory Fenves in a letter that “we will not tolerate vandalism, violence, or any attempt to disrupt our campus.”

Soon after The faculty voted overwhelmingly “Distrust” of Fenves, described the camp as a “peaceful demonstration” There is “no evidence of violence” and “no disruption to teaching and research operations”.

There was also disagreement concerning the level of disturbance at which police intervention can be obligatory.

Some administrators felt that any violation of university rules warranted police intervention, even a Level 1 tent encampment that didn’t block access to offices or classrooms or make much noise. Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock, for instance, called on police to clear protesters. only two hours after organising tents in violation of campus rules prohibiting the development of buildings.

In many private corporations, that is standard practice. If Meta employees arrange protest tents on their campus, hardly anyone can be surprised or dismayed if the police immediately got here and cleared them away.

But Harvard Police Chief Victor Clay set the bar for an arrest much higher – to about Level 4. He told the Crimson in April 2024 that only “significant property damage or physical violence of any kind” would justify the detention of scholars. Baltimore police were equally hesitant to concentrate on what it called a “valid” camp at Johns Hopkins University.

The management of each universities ultimately dissolved their camps without police motion.

Using the dimensions

The harm ladder cannot settle disagreements about whether students are right or unsuitable. It cannot even fully resolve subjective opinions about how harmful their protests are. But it may help move beyond the simplistic and sometimes incorrect judgments that characterised much of the discussion concerning the spring 2024 campus protests.

One side shouted: “Students broke the rules, call the police.” Others condemned any use of violence against demonstrators.

In many cases, the people calling for police motion didn’t just like the protesters' criticism of Israel. Many university presidents felt enormous pressure from university boards, Congress, alumni, and advocacy groups to quell the protests.

On the damage scale, none of those points justify a call to the police.

The threshold for violent termination of consultation at educational institutions is high for good reason. Reason and discussion as methods of resolving disagreements are embedded within the DNA of universities and colleges, which isn’t the case at corporations or government agencies.

Civil disobedience is by its nature partly persuasive and partly disruptive. Police actions only exert coercion and shut down dialogue. And arresting students has serious consequences, including expulsion from school, criminal records, loss of monetary aid, and potentially reduced job prospects.

But sometimes police intervention is obligatory, depending on the dimensions of the damage. If and when protests endanger people, disrupt necessary school activities, or cause other serious harm, then – and only then – is it time to call the police.

Dialogue, learning and debate within the pursuit of truth and wisdom are among the many core values ​​of a university. Flash grenades, stun guns and human shields contradict these values.