Student anti-Israel protests continue to sweep the US, with almost 550 arrests

Published

2 weeks ago

April 26, 2024

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Student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza continue to spread across the US, following last week’s arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.

There have been nearly 550 protest-related arrests in the past week at major US universities, according to a tally by news agency Reuters.

The students want universities to cut ties with companies helping Israel’s war in Gaza and, in some cases, with Israel itself.

Some universities have called in police to end the demonstrations, resulting in clashes and arrests, while others appear to be biding their time as the academic semester enters its final days.

The University of Southern California cancelled its main graduation ceremony, set for 10 May, after the arrests of 93 people at the Los Angeles campus on Wednesday.

At Boston’s Emerson College, 108 people were arrested overnight with video showing students linking arms to resist officers, who then moved forcefully through the crowd, throwing some students to the ground.

Student protester Ocean Muir said: “There were just more cops on all sides.

“It felt like we were being slowly pushed in and crushed.”

She said police lifted her by her arms and legs to carry her away and she was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct.

At Emory University’s Atlanta campus, 28 people were detained and the local branch of activist group Jewish Voice For Peace said police used tear gas and tasers on protesters.

Police there admitted using “chemical irritants” but denied using rubber bullets.

Cheryl Elliott, Emory’s vice president for public safety, said the aim was to clear the area of a “disruptive encampment while holding individuals accountable to the law” but human rights groups questioned the “apparent use of excessive force” against free speech.

Charges were dropped, meanwhile, against 46 of the 60 people detained by police at the University of Texas.

At Indiana University Bloomington, police with shields and batons shoved into a line of protesters, arresting 33 people.

At City College of New York, police officers retreated from protests, to cheers from the hundreds of students gathered on the lawn on the Harlem campus.

At California State Polytechnic University in Humboldt, students have been barricaded in a campus building since Monday, with staff trying to negotiate.

At University of Connecticut one protester was arrested and tents torn down, while protests continued at Stanford University and the New Jersey campus of Princeton University.

Harvard University is among those that have not taken action against protesters who have set up tents.

At New York’s Columbia University, where the protest movement began, university officials remain locked in a stalemate with students.

Police cleared tents and arrested more than 100 people last week but students put the tents up again in an area where graduation ceremonies will be held in a few weeks.

The administration has given protesters until Friday to leave.

There have been accusations that some pro-Palestinian protesters have harassed or abused Jewish students but protesters blame outsiders trying to infiltrate and malign their movement.

Protest leaders admit there has been abuse directed at Jewish students but insist the protests are not antisemitic.

Some of the universities have seen counter-protests from Israel supporters.

US

Boeing facing fresh probe after employees ‘falsely claim tests had been completed’

Published

2 hours ago

May 7, 2024

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Boeing facing fresh probe after employees 'falsely claim tests had been completed'

Federal air safety regulators have opened a fresh investigation into the Boeing 787 Dreamliner – after the firm said several employees had committed “misconduct” by falsely claiming tests had been completed.

The probe will look into whether Boeing completed inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings of certain 787 Dreamliner planes join the fuselage, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

The investigation will also look at “whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records”, the US federal government agency added.

The FAA said Boeing is “reinspecting all 787 airplanes still within the production system and must also create a plan to address the in-service fleet” while the investigation is taking place.

Boeing shares were down 1.5% at $177.03 late on Monday afternoon.

‘Several people not performing required test’

In an email from 29 April, Scott Stocker, who leads Boeing’s 787 program, said that an employee saw what appeared to be an irregularity in a required 787 conformance test.

Mr Stocker wrote that after receiving the report “we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed”.

In the email, addressed to employees in South Carolina where the 787 is assembled, Mr Stocker said Boeing promptly informed the FAA about what it had learned and said it is taking serious corrective action with “multiple” employees.

He added that “our engineering team has assessed that this misconduct did not create an immediate safety of flight issue”.

‘They are putting out defective airplanes’

It comes weeks after a Congressional investigation in April heard evidence on the safety culture and manufacturing standards at Boeing.

Sam Salehpour, a quality engineer at the company, told members of a Senate subcommittee that Boeing was taking shortcuts to bolster production levels that could lead to jetliners breaking apart.

He said of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, which has more than 1,000 in use across airlines globally including at British Airways, that excessive force was used to jam together sections of fuselage.

He claimed the extra force could compromise the carbon-composite material used for the plane’s frame.

“They are putting out defective airplanes,” he concluded, while adding that he was threatened when he raised concerns about the issue.

The engineer said he studied Boeing’s own data and concluded that the company is “taking manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 programme that could significantly reduce the airplanes’ safety and the life cycle”.

Boeing denied his claims surrounding both the Dreamliner’s structural integrity and that factory workers jumped on sections of fuselage to force them to align.

Two Boeing engineering executives said this week that its testing and inspections regimes have found no signs of fatigue or cracking in the composite panels, saying they were almost impervious to fatigue.

Boeing has been grappling with a months-long safety crisis since a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane mid-flight in January.

The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the mid-air emergency.

The National Transportation Safety Board has said four key bolts appeared to be missing from the plane.

Boeing has said it believes required documents detailing the removal of the bolts were never created.

US

US soldier detained in Russia, officials say

Published

2 hours ago

May 7, 2024

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US soldier detained in Russia, officials say

A US soldier was detained in Russia over the weekend while on a private trip, according to officials.

The soldier, who hasn’t been named, has been accused of stealing from a woman, Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News, reported, citing four US officials.

The White House is aware of reports of an American soldier being detained in Russia, national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday.

The soldier was arrested in the port city of Vladivostok on 2 May, “on charges of criminal misconduct,” US army spokesperson Cynthia O Smith said.

He had reportedly been stationed in South Korea and travelled to Russia for a personal trip and not on official duty, according to the US officials.

“The Russian Federation notified the US Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” Ms Smith said.

“The army notified his family and the US Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the soldier in Russia.

“Given the sensitivity of this matter, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.”

US

Pennsylvania: Man’s gun fails to fire after trying to shoot pastor during church sermon

Published

10 hours ago

May 6, 2024

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Pennsylvania: Man's gun fails to fire after trying to shoot pastor during church sermon

A man who tried to shoot a pastor during his service at a church was wrestled to the floor after his gun failed to fire, according to police.

Bernard J. Polite, 26, said “God made me do it” and planned to “wait to be arrested”, court documents reveal, when he entered the Pennsylvania church just after 1pm on Sunday.

Glenn Germany, who was giving a sermon being live streamed from Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church, told WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh that Polite smiled at him just before he pointed the gun.

He ducked out of the way as someone from the congregation tackled Polite, before he helped to wrest the gun away and keep him down until officers arrived.

“I am feeling grateful that I woke up this morning and that I am here, it could have gone an opposite direction,” Mr Germany said on Monday.

“But God has intervened and I am grateful for him.”

Polite was not known at the church, officials said, and court filings say he wandered over to the church after hearing music coming from there.

The body of a shooting victim was found in a home near the church in North Braddock, where Polite had been shortly before going to the church, county police said.

The county medical examiner’s office identified the body as Derek Polite, 56, of North Braddock, but did not confirm any specific relation to Bernard Polite.

Polite faces numerous charges, including aggravated assault and attempted homicide, and is in custody without bail.

State police said they don’t know if Polite has a lawyer, and county court records do not list one.