Dozens arrested in US as student protests over Gaza spread across country
Chaos engulfed campuses across the United States as pro-Palestinian student protests spread to universities across the length and breadth of this country.
A movement which started at Columbia University on the east coast has now spread to the north, south and west.
At the University of Southern California in Los Angeles at least 93 people were arrested during a volatile three-hour standoff between protesters and the police.
A protester is detained at the University of Southern California. Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
One young woman, wearing an Arab scarf, threw a bottle of water at officers and was tackled to the ground before being handcuffed and taken to a waiting police van.
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Heavily armed officers were sent to disperse pro-Palestine student activists who are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Others, who had formed a protest circle after police issued a dispersal order, were handcuffed one by one and frogmarched off campus by Los Angeles police officers.
Dozens of people were detained by police
The day had started relatively peacefully as hundreds of students gathered on the main lawn on campus.
Police did intervene to remove a number of tents that had been erected, but people holding signs which called for a ceasefire in Gaza soon filled the space.
As classes finished for the day, police issued a dispersal order, telling protesters over a loudspeaker that they had 10 minutes to clear the area or they would be arrested.
A group of at least 50 students remained, linking arms and chanting, “free, free, Palestine”. Some used a black marker pen to scribble on their arms the number of a helpline to call from prison.
Police officers turned out in force. Pic Reuters
“Are you scared of being arrested?” I asked one young woman. “No,” she replied. “I think the children in Gaza are more scared than me.”
I asked another why she feels so passionate about taking a stand on a war unfolding more than seven thousand miles away. “We know that we’re on the right side of this right now,” she said, “and if we’re not going to do this, then who is?”
The students here say they have two core aims. They are demanding that their university cuts all financial ties with Israel and that their country stops sending them weapons.
Amid the peaceful chants are potentially inflammatory songs about the state of Israel.
I asked one young man if he is concerned Jewish students may feel threatened and isolated on their own campus.
“None of the chants or anything that we’ve said is inherently antisemitic,” he said, “nor is the call for the liberation of Palestine inherently antisemitic”.
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More than 100 arrested as campus protests spread
Demonstrations are expected to continue across the US
As night fell, police here concluded that the best way to end today’s standoff was with more force.
My team watched as an officer pushed one young man to the floor and another woman was pushed back with a police baton.
They may have brought the protests to an end today but there is every chance they will erupt again in the days to come.
Police officers found a handgun, a silencer and a red notebook described as a “manifesto” when they arrested Luigi Mangione.
The 27-year-old was arrested in December 2024 and charged with killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York City.
Mangione‘s lawyers want to block prosecutors from showing or telling jurors at his eventual trial in Manhattan about statements he allegedly made and items they said police seized from his backpack during his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
The objects include a 9mm handgun prosecutors say matches the one used in the killing, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear and a notebook in which they say Mangione described his intent to “wack” a healthcare executive.
Mangione with his attorney. Pic: Reuters
The defence contends the items should be excluded because police did not get a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.
Prosecutors deny claims Mangione was illegally searched and questioned.
They also want to suppress some statements he made to police, such as allegedly giving a false name, because officers asked him questions before telling him he had a right to remain silent.
Last week, Mangione watched surveillance videos of the killing of Mr Thompson, 50, as he walked to a New York City hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges.
The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
This week’s hearing concerns only the state case, but Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases.
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In September, a judge dismissed two terrorism counts against Mangione, finding prosecutors had not presented enough evidence Mangione intended to intimidate health insurance workers or influence government policy.
Trial dates are yet to be set in either the state or federal cases.
Paramount has launched a £108.4bn hostile bid for Warner Bros, challenging Netflix, which had reached a $72bn takeover deal with the company.
Paramount said on Monday that it was going straight to Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shareholders with a $30 per share in cash offer for the entirety of the company, including its Global Networks segment, asking them to reject the deal with Netflix.
On Friday Netflix struck a deal to buy WBD, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max
The agreement means Warner Bros Discovery’s library of film and TV successes including Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones will come under the same roof as Stranger Things and Squid Game.
The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt.
But Paramount says its deal will pay $30 cash per share, representing $18 billion more in cash than its rivals are offering.
In a statement, Paramount said it was making a “strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders” and a “superior alternative to the Netflix transaction”.
File pic: iStock
David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said: “WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company.
“Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.
“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process.
“We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”
Paramount said it had submitted six proposals to WBD in the course of 12 weeks, but that they were never “meaningfully” engaged with.
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