Demonstrators have gathered in at least 30 US universities since last month, often erecting tent encampments to protest the soaring death toll in the Gaza Strip.
But the sight of helmeted officers at two of America’s most prestigious universities left some students dismayed.
“I don’t think we should have a heavy police force on campus,” UCLA student Mark Torre, 22, told AFP as he surveyed the scene from behind metal barriers.
“But more and more, day by day, I think it’s a necessary evil, to at least keep safety on campus.”
At Columbia and at the City University of New York, where police cleared out demonstrators overnight, some students decried the police behavior.
“We were assaulted, brutally arrested. And I was held for up to six hours before being released, pretty banged up, got stomped on, got cut up,” one CUNY student who gave his name only as Jose told AFP.
A medical student offering treatment to detainees as they were released described a litany of injuries.
“We’ve seen things like severe head traumas, concussions, someone was knocked unconscious in the encampment by police, someone was thrown down the stairs,” said the student, who gave her name as Isabel.
About 300 arrests were made at Columbia and CUNY, Police Commissioner Edward Caban said.
Mayor Eric Adams blamed “outside agitators” for ratcheting up tensions. Columbia students have denied outsiders were involved.
University president Minouche Shafik, who has come under fire over her decision to call in police, said the turn of events “filled me with deep sadness.”
“I am sorry we reached this point,” she said in a statement.
