AUSTIN, Texas — Demonstrators arrested at Wednesday's protest on the University of Texas at Austin campus were being released from the Travis County Jail Thursday morning.
More than 50 people were arrested at the pro-Palestine protest on Wednesday. Large crowds of students walked out of classes to participate.
This week, pro-Palestine protests have swept U.S. college campuses, following mass arrests at Columbia University in New York. Dozens of protesters were also arrested at New York University and Yale University in Connecticut. The movement has also hit the west coast, at Cal Poly Humboldt in California.
At UT, the Palestine Solidarity Committee said it was following in the footsteps of those students, calling for justice in Palestine. On Wednesday morning, UT students walked out of class and met near Gregory Gym. They planned to march and occupy the university's South Mall.
"Our plan was to be as peaceful as possible from the beginning. We weren't planning on destructing. We were planning on chanting solely during passing periods, which is the university rules, and we were complying with every single directive the university had given us from the dean of students. And yet we were escalated into this situation by the police," a member of the Palestine Solidarity Committee at UT said.
The group's initial plans for the walkout protest included a study break, pizza break and art workshop.
However, UT said the protest was not authorized. A letter sent to the Palestine Solidarity Committee on Tuesday by the Office of the Dean of Students said the event would not be allowed to "proceed as planned."
"Simply put, The University of Texas at Austin will not allow this campus to be 'taken' and protesters to derail our mission in ways that groups affiliated with your national organization have accomplished elsewhere," the letter reads in part. "Please be advised that you are not permitted to hold your event on the University campus. Any attempt to do so will subject your organization and its attending members to discipline including suspension under the Institutional Rules."
The letter also noted that attendees not affiliated with UT would be directed to leave campus, and refusal to comply might result in arrests.
UT's Division of Student Affairs echoed those sentiments in a statement:
"UT Austin does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses. This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption."
At around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the university said it was evacuating the UT Tower and surrounding buildings. Just after 5:20 p.m., a dispersal order was issued by the University of Texas at Austin Police Department (UTPD), asking people to leave the South Mall area "immediately" or face arrest.
Texas DPS said its troopers responded to the campus at the request of UT and "at the direction of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in order to prevent any unlawful assembly and to support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including criminal trespass."
By 6 p.m., police had pushed the protesters away, toward Guadalupe Street. By 6:30 p.m., a group had gathered near the Travis County Jail, where protesters were being held.
In an update at around 8:30 p.m., attorney George Lobb told KVUE about 54 people were being held at the Travis County Jail in connection with the protest. Texas DPS said as of 9 p.m., 34 arrests had been made by its troopers.
On Thursday morning, the Travis County Sheriff's Office confirmed 57 people total were arrested.
What local leaders are saying
Leaders and politicians on both sides of the aisle have issued statements about the protest.
Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, in support of the arrests being made, calling the protests "antisemitic."
"Arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses," Abbott said. "These protesters belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled."
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also weighed in, saying, "Protesters who intended to takeover the UT campus posted on Instagram: 'In the footsteps of our comrades at Columbia SJP, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Yale, and countless others across the nation, we will be establishing THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY FOR GAZA.' This is delusional. We have big problems on our college campuses."
Meanwhile, Councilmember Zo Qadri, who represents the area of Austin where UT is located, issued a statement that said in part, "Student-led peaceful protests are a core part of progressive change through American history. Unfortunately, these protests have often been met with force or broken up by institutional and systemic barriers, including here at home, on UT campus. We need answers as to why such a flagrant and wasteful show of force by DPS was authorized, and if any peaceful protestors had their 1st Amendment Rights Violated."
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa also responded, posting on X, "We’re getting answers about why students are being arrested @UTAustin. Unless there was an actual threat of violence, this is out of hand. In normal times when I was a student I was in a 'sit in' w/ @RevJJackson INSIDE the actual UT law school & administration just ignored us."
The Texas Democratic Party also issued a statement, with party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa saying:
“Today, Greg Abbott’s DPS has more courage to arrest peaceful student protesters than when an active shooter entered an elementary school in Uvalde. This is yet another gross misuse of state-funds for campaign ads at the expense of UT students’ safety. It is beyond clear that Greg Abbott does not care about first amendment rights, Texans’ freedoms, the loss of Palestinian life, or Israeli hostages – he only cares about himself. Once again, Texas Republicans are hellbent on placing our basic rights on the chopping block for political gain.”
"I'm openly pro-Israel in some way, which is sad because I actually believe in a Palestinian state, and these people – not all of them, just some of them – don't believe in my right to exist," Seth Greenwald, president of the Jewish Legal Society at UT Austin said.
The Texas NAACP and Texas AAUP issued a joint statement, criticizing the arrests as well as the response from the university, calling it "a chaotic situation" that "caused fear and intimidation to many people on the University campus most of whom were not protestors."
In a statement to the UT community on Wednesday night, President Jay Hartzell said:
"Dear UT community,
"This has been a challenging day for many. We have witnessed much activity we normally do not experience on our campus, and there is understandably a lot of emotion surrounding these events.
"Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied.
"The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse. The University did as we said we would do in the face of prohibited actions. We were prepared, with the necessary support to maintain campus operations and ensure the safety, well-being and learning environment for our more than 50,000 students.
"We are grateful for the countless staff members and state and University law enforcement officers, as well as support personnel who exercised extraordinary restraint in the face of a difficult situation that is playing out at universities across the country. There is a way to exercise freedom of speech and civil discourse, and our Office of the Dean of Students has continued to offer ways to ensure protests can happen within the rules. The University of Texas will continue to take necessary steps so that all our University functions proceed without interruption."