

I want to see the people coming into these threads defending the cops closing down these camps defend the cops arresting 2300 people.
I’ll half-bite, I suppose - disruptive encampments and occupations of buildings of institutions that are attempting to continue functioning are situations in which one should expect a police response to disperse after a period of time. These institutions have an obligation to the other students and faculty, not just to the demands of the protesters, and the right to dictate what is and is not appropriate usage, or after what period of time it becomes inappropriate usage, of the university’s buildings. And if the demands of the protesters are unrealistic or out of the hands of the institution, then there is no other real recourse but a police response.
Of course, on the other hand, anyone who has seen what the police response is knows that it’s American police being more militarized than the US military and using the opportunity to vent some of their roid rage and testosterone poisoning.
But police closing down such protest encampments is not inherently illegitimate.
Largely my comment was in the abstract. I knew most of the ones that had been getting attention were about divestment in their university, but I presumed that at least some were students trying to raise awareness over a subject the uni had no power over. And that’s perfectly legitimate! It’s just something that you do have to expect the possibility of an arrest for.
Unfortunately, as I noted, US police are not known for reasonable, proportionate responses.
Uni admins and being bloodsucking hypocritical parasites - name a more iconic duo.