MIT students protest and march after clearing of campus encampment

Scores of MIT student protesters hit the streets again Friday afternoon, hours after a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus was dismantled by police, the latest in a series of police sweeps in the region. For a second day students faced arrests.

They marched through Cambridge chanting and carrying signs that read, "Hands off Rafah" and "MIT unjustly suspends, evicts and arrest their own students and workers. Shame!" One frequent chant: "40,000 people dead, and you're arresting us instead."

Austin Cole, a third-year graduate student, said he's among the dozens of students MIT suspended this week for participating in the encampment. In an interview, he said he finds it ironic that the same school that honored him with an award last year for helping lead a civil rights immersion trip is now "punishing me ... for engaging in civil disobedience."

"All these things were peaceful protests," he said.

By late afternoon, about 150 protesters had stopped outside the home of MIT President Sally Kornbluth, who ordered the encampment clear-out before dawn Friday. There was a heavy police presence watching over the student marchers.

In her letter to the MIT community, Kornbluth said the school had given ample warnings to students to clear the encampment. "And thus we arrived at this morning’s police action — our last resort."

Ten students arrested Friday morning were released after appearing in court; a July date was set to hear their cases. But prosecutors said they would drop trespassing charges if students adhered to MIT's rules.

MIT's commencement is scheduled for May 30.