US Police in Ann Arbor dismantled a pro-Palestine encampment and removed the students protesting in support of Palestinians in Gaza at the University of Michigan. 

The protesters have been urging the university's endowment to halt all investments in companies tied to "Israel". 

Local TV stations posted videos online on May 21 showcasing how the police were moving people away from the camp on the Diag, which is a common site for campus protests. 

The police, as revealed by the footage, were using an irritant to spray the protesters, forcing them to retreat. 

Michigan state police pepper sprayed students from the University of Michigan who were protesting in solidarity with Gaza whilst protecting their encampment which was destroyed as the protesters were brutally arrested. pic.twitter.com/G8HDfYPync

— Chris Hutchinson (@ChrisHu34451470) May 22, 2024

Following the arrest of at least four people, the protesters moved their protest to the Washtenaw County jail where they marched outside in support of the arrested.  

UPDATE: countless students injured; a few had to go to the ER; 4 who were arrested have just been released. A beautiful show of solidarity & determination in front of the Washtenaw County courthouse, where students moved encampment programming and community members came out to… https://t.co/XRHRdWC3dr pic.twitter.com/fgcUak3eHQ

— Huwaida Arraf (@huwaidaarraf) May 21, 2024

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Nearby buildings, including the undergraduate and graduate libraries, were shut down, and police sent back all students who were going to access these buildings to study after they cleared the camp. 

Student protests calling for the University's divestment started with sit-ins at the President's house in October and organized protests across the campus, urging the university to divest from "Israel", and six months later the encampment was launched. 

The university claims it has no direct investments in "Israel" with less than $15 million placed in funds that might include Israeli companies. 

Pro-'Israel' billionaires are involved in crackdown on university protests

A coalition of billionaires and influential business figures, aiming to influence American public opinion regarding the Israeli war on Gaza, urged New York City's Mayor in private last month to deploy police to quell pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, The Washington Post reported on May 17, citing communications obtained and individuals familiar with the group.

Business leaders, including Daniel Lubetzky, founder of Kind Snack company, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, billionaire Len Blavatnik, and real estate investor Joseph Sitt, convened for a Zoom video conference with Mayor Eric Adams on April 26. This meeting took place about a week following the Mayor's initial dispatch of New York police to Columbia's campus, as indicated in a log of chat messages.

During the call, some participants discussed the possibility of making political contributions to Adams, as well as strategies for exerting pressure on Columbia's President and trustees to authorize the Mayor's deployment of police to address protesters on campus, according to summaries of the chat messages, as reported by The Post.

A member of the WhatsApp group chat said, as quoted by The Post, that he "contributed" $2,100, the maximum allowable amount, to Adams during that month.

Additionally, some members expressed willingness to fund private investigators to aid the New York police in managing the protests, as indicated in the chat log. A member reported in the chat that Adams accepted this offer. However, a spokesperson for City Hall claimed that the New York Police Department has not utilized private investigators for managing protests.

Read more: Pro-Israeli billionaires fuel NYC Mayor crackdown on Columbia students