A broken ankle. Concussions. Tasered. Pepper sprayed. These are some claims of injuries stemming from police conduct -- and inaction — from students and university faculty involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on university campuses in New York and Los Angeles. Aidan Doyle, a 21-year-old junior at the University of California Los Angeles, cited the slow response from police, decisions made by university officials and the violence from counterprotesters, NPR reports. "The treatment of the protesters by the cops was horrible and unforgivable. But it was nothing compared to what the counterprotesters did assaulting 80, 90, 100 of us," said Doyle, a member of the school's pro-Palestinian encampment. Based on past protests, the fiscal toll of the New York police response in that city could easily reach nine figures, reports The Intercept. Policing of the 2020 George Floyd protests in New York ended up costing the city nearly $150 million in overtime alone — with tens of millions, and counting, in settlement payouts in police abuse lawsuits.
Students and some faculty at universities across the U.S. have spent the past few months protesting for Palestinian freedom. They've called on their universities to divest from companies that have businesses or investments in Israel because of the country's military operation in Gaza. These demonstrations have ramped up as students began erecting encampments on their campuses, even taking over a school building to bring awareness to their cause. University and police officials repeatedly demanded students disperse and take down their encampments, but protesters refused, arguing a right to free speech, and maintained that their demonstrations were peaceful. Some protesters at demonstrations, including at UCLA fought with counterprotesters. Students and faculty, alumni, civil rights groups and some politicians allege that universities endangered public safety by calling in police in response to the protesters' refusal to disperse. Some have said law enforcement used excessive, military-like force in their effort to clear some of the biggest student-run pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments in New York City and Los Angeles.