BREAKING: Riot cops clear UPenn's Gaza camp, arrest students and activists

Philadelphia police officers joined Penn police early on Friday morning to disband the Gaza camp at the University of Pennsylvania, arresting students and activists. The camp had been up for 16 days and had about 40 tents on the College Green. About 100 officers responded to the scene at 6 am. This comes after city police declined to aid the school in clearing the activists on May 2.

Protesters sang "we shall not be moved" as officers zip tied their hands and hauled them away to police vans. Police shouted "do not resist" over a megaphone and The Daily Pennsylvanian reports that students did not resist arrest and went peacefully to their fate. Fox News reports that the protesters, many of whom were "too old" to be on college campuses, smiled and resisted as much as they could while being led away.

On Thursday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro urged the school to clear the camp, saying "The University of Pennsylvania has an obligation to their safety. It is past time for the university to act, to address this, to disband the encampment, and to restore order and safety on campus." He said that "the situation has gotten even more unstable and out of control."

During their camp out, the Ben Franklin statue had been vandalized, including with what school administrators said was antisemitic graffiti. The Gaza campers also faced significant counter protests organized by Jewish students. The campers "documented multiple rounds of threats," The Daily Pennsylvanian wrote, but so too had counter protesters who complained of harassment at the hands of the campers.

Students had attempted to negotiate with the administration, including Interim Penn President Larry Jameson, but they were unsuccessful in gaining sympathy for their demands. Instead, they were "notified of pending disciplinary hearings for allegedly violating multiple Penn policies by camping out," the student newspaper wrote. Twelve students are already facing disciplinary action while six others have been placed on a leave of absence.

Jameson took over while the school conducts a search for a new president. Former university head Liz Magill resigned after brutal questioning by Rep. Elise Stefanik in the US House during the fall term. Magill's responses to Stefanik's questions on her tolerance for antisemitism on campus were so unsatisfactory that she was essentially forced out by the board.

After the last round of talks on Tuesday, the students and activists expanded their camp while administration increased security on campus and around key buildings like the Van Pelt Library. Penn alum and author Marc Lamont Hill had made an appearance during the protest, blaming the school for trying to "maintain the status quo."

"This University is committed to silencing the voices of the dissidents and resistance," Hill said. "This University has blood on its hands."

"My experience here in a patriarchal, white supremacist, imperial, settler colonial state is directly tied to forces of capital and forces of power that also oppress Palestinians," he went on to say. The protest was also visited by Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner.

Like other Gaza Camps at schools across the US, the Penn students issued a set of demands to school administrators. As with those at Columbia, Princeton, and UCLA, chief among those demands were that students would not face any disciplinary consequences for their actions occupying the campus.