Police at Yale University clear anti-Israel encampment, threatening arrest and suspension

Yale police began clearing an anti-Israel encampment Tuesday, as New Haven, Connecticut, police told protesters they wouldn't be arrested unless they block traffic.

Police moved to clear an encampment at Yale University in Connecticut on Tuesday morning, but there were no immediate reports of arrests.

In a statement obtained by Fox News, the university said, "Yale personnel issued final warnings that protesters in an encampment set up Sunday afternoon on Yale’s Cross Campus must end the encampment or face discipline, including suspension for violating university rules and arrest for trespassing."

"All the protesters chose to leave the encampment, and the university is in the process of clearing tents and other items from the area. Over the past several days, administrators communicated to protesters that their encampment and activities violated the university’s policies and were disrupting academic and university operations," the statement continued. 

The university said several attempts by Pericles Lewis, dean of Yale College, "to convince the protestors that they had other means besides occupying Cross Campus to get their message heard were unsuccessful" and the tent encampment "was located near student dorms, libraries, and classrooms, where many students are writing their final papers and studying for final exams."

"As President Salovey outlined in his message to the Yale community on Monday, Yale fully supports peaceful protests and freedom of speech; however, claiming control of our shared space is inconsistent with our principles and values," the statement added. "The university does not tolerate the violation of its longstanding policies on using on-campus outdoor spaces, postering and chalking, or the use of amplified sound. Yale’s rules on free expression and peaceable assembly exist to ensure that all members of the community have equitable access to the campus and can engage in the full functions of the university."

The university said while some protesters remain near the area and on nearby streets after leaving the encampment, "no arrests have been made this morning." 

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The Yale Daily News, an independent student newspaper, reported earlier that Yale and New Haven police surrounded the encampment in the Cross Campus quad with caution tape starting around 6 a.m. and said anyone inside the blocked-off area would be subject to arrest and suspension if they did not leave. Officer Christian Bruckhart, a New Haven police spokesperson, said no arrests had been made as of 7:30 a.m.

The New Haven Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that 29 of its officers have been deployed "at Yale’s request to assist with removing protesters from Cross Campus." 

"No arrests have been made at this time. The NHPD has no plans to make arrests unless they enter the road," the police spokesman said. 

Bruckhart told Fox News Digital, "Everyone is out of their tents and off across campus. There's a group of 30 or 40 maybe who are on the sidewalk, but no arrests as of now."

New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson told protesters though a megaphone that they will not be allowed back onto Cross Campus until the area has been cleared by the Yale Police Department. Protesters shouted "shame" and yelled as Jacobson further warned that no one would be arrested where they are now and asked that protests not "impede traffic or go in the road."

According to the student newspaper, demonstrators began to chant "YPD, KKK, IDF they’re all the same," around 8 a.m., as the group grew to about 60 protesters on College Street.

One student organizer was quoted as telling the crowd, "Y’all, they were so f---ing afraid of what we built that they pushed us back not once, not two times, but three times." 

"What we’ve done here is created community that doesn’t rely on the police to keep us safe," the unnamed organized added, according to The Yale Daily News. 

Yale Police Officer Sabrina Wood told the student newspaper that officers were searching the encampment for valuable goods, such as medications, phones and computers. 

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Any personal items will be made available at the Yale Police Department later Tuesday afternoon, Wood said, while other items, such as tents and blankets, will be brought to the Yale Office of Facilities. 

The police action Monday comes after Yale University President Peter Salovey issued a "call for civility" on Sunday, writing in a statement to members of the Yale community that "the use of overnight encampments, flags, posters, banners, tents, and ropes to claim a campus space for one individual or group’s viewpoint is, however, detrimental to the free exchange of ideas." 

He described how "protesters set up rows of tents on Cross Campus and restricted access to the encampment" and "asked individuals who wished to pass through or enter their area, which is a shared campus space, to agree with their political viewpoints." 

"This action is unacceptable and antithetical to the very purpose of a university," Salovey said. "I call upon everyone involved – protesters and counter-protesters – to return to expressing their views in ways that are compatible with the fundamental value of intellectual freedom, that comply with university policies, and that foster civil discourse on our campus. I hope that we can do this without further disruption and without violating policies or laws." 

Fox News’ Tamara Gitt, Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.