May 2 (UPI) — President Joe Biden on Thursday addressed pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses throughout the nation as hundreds of protesters have been arrested.
Biden said the campus pro-Palestinian protests are protected as long as they are peaceful, but he said violent protests are not protected.
“As president I will always defend free speech but I will also stand up for the rule of law,” Biden said in a brief address from the White House.
In response to a question from a reporter, Biden said the National Guard should not be used on campus.
He also said the protests had not changed his stance on policies regarding the war in Gaza and the broader region.
Biden said the protests put to the test two fundamental American principles.
“The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard,” he said. “The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld.”
The president said America is not “an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent.” But he said order must prevail in a civil society.
He said in moments like this there are always those who rush in to score political points.
“But this isn’t a moment for politics,” Biden said. “It’s a moment for clarity. Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. It’s against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest.”
He said vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancelation of classes and graduation are not peaceful protests.
He said threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest.
“There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students,” Biden said. “There is no place for hate speech, or violence of any kind. Whether it’s anti-Semitism, Islamaphobia or discrimination against Arab-Americans or Palestinian-Americans.”
Biden said as president he will both protect free speech and uphold the rule of law.
Biden’s comments came after authorities in Los Angeles began clearing out protesters and their encampments early Thursday morning after they ignored orders to leave.
Video captured some protesters being taken away by California Highway Patrol officers as the officers fired flashbangs into the encampment.
Despite the aggressive action by law enforcement, some protesters attempted to remain at the encampment, linking arms and singing.
Several hundred officers in riot gear moved into the encampment area before dawn, as they pushed through some demonstrators who tried to stop them from advancing without success. Police started tearing down the encampments once reaching them.
Officers appeared to take “dozens” of protesters into custody as they swept through the UCLA encampment, CNN and NBC News reported. Some were restrained with zip ties as officers pushed through the campus.
UCLA Associate Professor Graeme Blair told CNN he expected that faculty members who were on supporting the protests were “all expecting to get arrested.”
“The University of California Los Angeles has declared the encampment and all unauthorized tents and structures in Dickson Plaza to be unlawful,” a university alert said before police started to enter the encampments.
“The university requires that everyone must leave the encampment and adjacent areas, as well as all unauthorized structures and tents immediately, until further notice.”
The action is part of increased law enforcement action against pro-Palestine protesters on campuses around the country as demonstrators called on university officials to divest funds from Israel because of the ongoing Gaza War and its effect on Palestinians.
More than 40 colleges and universities have seen pro-Palestinian protests, while an increasing number of administrations chose to use police force to end the demonstrations along with the threat of suspensions and expulsions for participating students.