ASU Pro-Palestine Protest Ends In Over 70 Arrests As Tensions Rise

TEMPE, Ariz. – Over 70 individuals were detained during a pro-Palestine demonstration organized by Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe on Saturday morning. The majority of the media had left when two student journalists witnessed what happened as they covered the protest for their school’s newspaper, The State Press. They acknowledged that there was tension throughout but emphasized it being intense. ASU imposed a deadline at 11 p.m. On Friday night requiring protesters to leave Old Main lawn because of the large encampment violating university policy. As tensions rose before midnight, state troopers and riot gear were deployed on one end while demonstrators gathered on another. The arrested individuals’ camp was disassembled afterward. “I would say it was very intense,” said Paul Pascual, a freshman at ASU who also works as a reporter for the student-run newspaper. Sophia Ramirez, his colleague and fellow student journalist from ASU, noted that she wasn’t scared or intimidated but felt significant because of how few campuses contributed to this protest across the country in response to Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza Strip. The Old Main lawn is now empty with a gate erected ahead of graduation ceremonies at the university as protests like these have led to canceled events elsewhere.