By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - Three dozen people were arrested on charges of criminal trespass overnight at Ohio State University, the school confirmed Friday amid ongoing nationwide pro-Palestinian student-led demonstrations.
Of the 36 people who were taken into custody Thursday evening at the university's main campus in Columbus, 16 were students while 20 had no connection to the school, spokesperson Ben Johnson told Anadolu in an email exchange.
Johnson told 10TV, a local CBS television network affiliate, that college rules prohibit camping and overnight events.
"Demonstrators exercised their first amendment rights for several hours and were then instructed to disperse. Individuals who refused to leave after multiple warnings were arrested and charged with criminal trespass," he told the outlet.
At least two people were arrested on Tuesday during another demonstration for Palestine.
Separately, photos and videos of police snipers on rooftops at the university and at Indiana University Bloomington have gone viral on social media.
Last week's decision by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to ask police to arrest demonstrators staging a sit-in on a campus lawn has served as a flashpoint in the wider protest movement.
Protests and encampments have since spread to universities nationwide in defiance of arrests and threats from university administrators.
Protests have been reported at a wide array of campuses from California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt; University of California, Berkeley; the University of Southern California; the University of Texas at Austin; Yale University; University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Swarthmore College and the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania; the University of Rochester in New York; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University and Emerson College in Massachusetts; Emory University in Georgia; and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.