The New York City Police Department arrested dozens of protesters at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” in Gould Plaza at around 8:30 p.m. Monday, after the university authorized police to remove protesters and arrest them if necessary, a letter from NYU to the NYPD posted on the social media platform X shows. The protesters were all arrested for trespass. 

An NYPD spokesperson told WSN police would not have an exact number of arrests until Tuesday morning. More than 100 protesters have gathered near One Police Plaza — where the NYPD’s headquarters is located — to support those who were arrested, holding signs and chanting.

In a recent post on Instagram, NYU Students for Justice in Palestine said members of SJP, NYU Law Students for Justice in Palestine, NYU Students for a Democratic Society, Shut it Down NYU and NYC Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine were among those arrested. The arrests come after similar sweeps of pro-Palestinian encampment protests at Columbia University and Yale University, where more than 108 and 47 protesters were arrested, respectively.

In the letter from NYU to the NYPD posted on X — which has the name of the person who gave police the authority to remove protesters on the university’s behalf redacted — NYU said protesters had “ignored” requests for them to leave Gould Plaza, and considered the demonstrators to be trespassers. 

“At this point we consider all protesters occupying Gould Plaza to be trespassers and we would like the NYPD to clear the area and to take action to remove the protesters,” the letter reads. “In the event they refuse to leave, we request the NYPD take enforcement action accordingly up to and including arrest.”

NYU spokesperson John Beckman told WSN that after closing access to the plaza with barriers earlier today, it had told protesters it would not “allow additional protesters to join because the protests were already considerably disruptive of classes and other operations.” Beckman said the university chose not to “move to clear the plaza” earlier today because it wanted to “avoid any escalation or violence.”

Beckman then said protesters “breached the barriers” put in place at the plaza in violation of Campus Safety directions and university policies. He also said there were reports of “intimidating chants and several antisemitic incidents” at the protest.

“Today’s events did not need to lead to this outcome,” Beckman wrote. “We will continue to support individuals’ right to freedom of expression, and, as we have said since October, the safety of our students and maintaining an equitable learning environment remain paramount.” 

The Palestine Solidarity Coalition did not respond to a request for comment. Beckman did not respond to a request for comment regarding the letter to the NYPD.

Contact Carmo Moniz and Yezen Saadah [email protected].