NEW YORK (AP) — A jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s history-making hush money trial, propelling the proceedings closer to opening statements and the start of weeks of dramatic testimony.
The court quickly turned to selecting alternate jurors, with the process on track to wrap up by the end of the week. Prosecutors could begin presenting their case early next week.
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Former president Donald Trump, comments after visiting a bodega, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, who's owner was attacked last year in New York. Fresh from a Manhattan courtroom, Donald Trump visited a New York bodega where a man was stabbed to death, a stark pivot for the former president as he juggles being a criminal defendant and the Republican challenger intent on blaming President Joe Biden for crime. Alba's attorney, Rich Cardinale, second from left, and Fransisco Marte, president of the Bodega Association, looked on. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former president Donald Trump, talks to members of the media while visiting a bodega, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, who's owner was attacked last year in New York. Fresh from a Manhattan courtroom, Donald Trump visited a New York bodega where a man was stabbed to death, a stark pivot for the former president as he juggles being a criminal defendant and the Republican challenger intent on blaming President Joe Biden for crime. Alba's attorney, Rich Cardinale, second from left, and Fransisco Marte, president of the Bodega Association, looked on. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
NEW YORK (AP) — A jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s history-making hush money trial, propelling the proceedings closer to opening statements and the start of weeks of dramatic testimony.
Former President Donald Trump holds up news clippings as he speaks following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Attorney Todd Blanche listens at left. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump speaks with the media while holding news clippings following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump holds up news clippings as he speaks following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court during jury selection in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump, seated far left, looks on with Judge Juan Merchan presiding as members of the jury panel answer questions from the jury questionnaire in Manhattan criminal court Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump, second from left, watches juror number d2 speak at the podium to Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan criminal court regarding her desire to be excused from the jury after " sleeping on it" and having concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump walks out of the courtroom during a break at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump gestures, while he returns to Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump speaks alongside attorney Todd Blanche as they return from a lunch break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
Former president Donald Trump, comments after visiting a bodega, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, who's owner was attacked last year in New York. Fresh from a Manhattan courtroom, Donald Trump visited a New York bodega where a man was stabbed to death, a stark pivot for the former president as he juggles being a criminal defendant and the Republican challenger intent on blaming President Joe Biden for crime. Alba's attorney, Rich Cardinale, second from left, and Fransisco Marte, president of the Bodega Association, looked on. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court during jury selection in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former president Donald Trump, talks to members of the media while visiting a bodega, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, who's owner was attacked last year in New York. Fresh from a Manhattan courtroom, Donald Trump visited a New York bodega where a man was stabbed to death, a stark pivot for the former president as he juggles being a criminal defendant and the Republican challenger intent on blaming President Joe Biden for crime. Alba's attorney, Rich Cardinale, second from left, and Fransisco Marte, president of the Bodega Association, looked on. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York.(Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York.(Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump addresses the media following the second day of jury selection, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at Manhattan criminal court in New York. Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump walks through a doorway during the second day of jury selection, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at Manhattan criminal court in New York. Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)
The jury of Manhattanites includes a sales professional, a software engineer, a security engineer, a teacher, a speech therapist, multiple lawyers, an investment banker and a retired wealth manager.
The first-ever trial of a former American president is unfolding in New York during this year's race for the White House, meaning the presumptive Republican nominee will spend his days in court confronted by salacious and unflattering testimony about his personal life while simultaneously campaigning to reclaim the office he held for four years.
He's made clear his determination to use his legal jeopardy, already a central issue in the race against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden, to his advantage. After a full day of jury selection, he complained to reporters that he should have been out campaigning but was in court instead for what he said was a “very unfair trial.”
“Everybody’s outraged by it,” he said. “You know the whole world’s watching this New York scam.”
Jury selection proceeded at a plodding pace earlier Thursday when two jurors were dismissed, one after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair following disclosure of details about her identity and the other over concerns that some of his answers in court may have been inaccurate.
But lawyers who began the day with only five jurors settled on the remaining seven in quick succession, along with one alternate. Judge Juan Merchan has said his goal is to have six alternates.
The process of picking a jury is a critical phase in any criminal trial but especially so when the defendant is a former president and the presumptive Republican nominee. Prospective jurors have been grilled on their social media posts, personal lives and political views as the lawyers and judge search for any bias that would prevent them from being impartial.
Inside the court, there’s broad acknowledgment of the futility in trying to find jurors without knowledge of Trump. A prosecutor this week said lawyers were not looking for people who had been “living under a rock for the past eight years.”
To that end, multiple jurors chosen for the panel acknowledged having personal opinions of Trump or his presidency.
One juror, a man who works in investment banking, earlier described himself as “ambivalent” about Trump, adding, “I might not like some of his policies, but there has been some good” for the country.
A woman picked for the jury said she thought Trump seemed “very selfish and self serving," adding, “I don’t really appreciate that from any public servant.” Defense lawyers were out of peremptory strikes, which would allow them to dismiss a juror without giving a reason.
The trial centers on a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and personal fixer, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the final days of the 2016 race.
Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.
Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He could get up to four years in prison if convicted, though it’s not clear that the judge would opt to put him behind bars. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.
Trump faces four criminal cases, but it's not clear that any others will reach trial before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have caused delays in the other three cases charging Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and with illegally hoarding classified documents.
The jury selection process picked up momentum Tuesday with the selection of seven jurors. But on Thursday, Merchan revealed in court that one of the seven, a cancer nurse, had “conveyed that after sleeping on it overnight she had concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial in this case.”
And though jurors’ names are being kept confidential, the woman told the judge and the lawyers that she had doubts after she said aspects of her identity had been made public.
“Yesterday alone I had friends, colleagues and family push things to my phone regarding questioning my identity as a juror," she said. "I don’t believe at this point that I can be fair and unbiased and let the outside influences not affect my decision making in the courtroom.”
A second seated juror was dismissed after prosecutors raised concerns that he may not have been honest in answering a jury selection question by saying that he had never been accused or convicted of a crime.
The IT professional was summoned to court to answer questions after prosecutors said they found an article about a person with the same name who had been arrested in the 1990s for tearing down posters pertaining to the political right in suburban Westchester County.
A prosecutor also disclosed that a relative of the man may have been involved in a deferred prosecution agreement in the 1990s with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting Trump’s case.
Because the juror was questioned Thursday at the judge’s bench, off-microphone and out of earshot of reporters, it was not known whether the man confirmed or denied that either instance was connected to him.
After dismissing from the jury the nurse who had already been selected, Merchan ordered journalists in court not to report prospective jurors’ answers to questions about their current and former employers.
“We just lost, probably, what probably would have been a very good juror for this case, and the first thing that she said was she was afraid and intimidated by the press, all the press, and everything that had happened," Merchan said.
In other developments, prosecutors asked for Trump to be held in contempt over a series of social media posts this week.
The district attorney's office on Monday sought a $3,000 fine for Trump for three Truth Social posts they said violated the judge’s gag order limiting what he can say publicly about witnesses. Since then, prosecutors said Trump made seven additional posts that they believe violate the order.
Several of the posts involved an article that referred to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen as a “serial perjurer,” and one from Wednesday repeated a claim by a Fox News host that liberal activists were lying to get on the jury, said prosecutor Christopher Conroy.
Trump lawyer Emil Bove said Cohen “has been attacking President Trump in public statements,” and Trump was just replying.
The judge already scheduled a hearing for next week on the prosecution’s request for contempt sanctions over Trump’s posts.
Tucker reported from Washington.
Former President Donald Trump speaks with the media while holding news clippings following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump holds up news clippings as he speaks following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Attorney Todd Blanche listens at left. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump speaks with the media while holding news clippings following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump holds up news clippings as he speaks following his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court during jury selection in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump, seated far left, looks on with Judge Juan Merchan presiding as members of the jury panel answer questions from the jury questionnaire in Manhattan criminal court Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump, second from left, watches juror number d2 speak at the podium to Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan criminal court regarding her desire to be excused from the jury after " sleeping on it" and having concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump walks out of the courtroom during a break at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump gestures, while he returns to Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump speaks alongside attorney Todd Blanche as they return from a lunch break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
Former president Donald Trump, comments after visiting a bodega, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, who's owner was attacked last year in New York. Fresh from a Manhattan courtroom, Donald Trump visited a New York bodega where a man was stabbed to death, a stark pivot for the former president as he juggles being a criminal defendant and the Republican challenger intent on blaming President Joe Biden for crime. Alba's attorney, Rich Cardinale, second from left, and Fransisco Marte, president of the Bodega Association, looked on. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court during jury selection in New York, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former president Donald Trump, talks to members of the media while visiting a bodega, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, who's owner was attacked last year in New York. Fresh from a Manhattan courtroom, Donald Trump visited a New York bodega where a man was stabbed to death, a stark pivot for the former president as he juggles being a criminal defendant and the Republican challenger intent on blaming President Joe Biden for crime. Alba's attorney, Rich Cardinale, second from left, and Fransisco Marte, president of the Bodega Association, looked on. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York.(Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York.(Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump addresses the media following the second day of jury selection, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at Manhattan criminal court in New York. Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump walks through a doorway during the second day of jury selection, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at Manhattan criminal court in New York. Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University on Tuesday, barricading entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window in an escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses nationwide. The school promised they would face expulsion from the university.
The occupation at of the campus in New York — where protesters had shrugged off an earlier ultimatum to abandon a tent encampment Monday or be suspended — unfolded as other universities stepped up efforts to end the protests. Police swept through some campuses, leading to confrontations and arrests. In rarer instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life.
And as cease-fire negotiations appeared to gain steam, it wasn’t clear whether those talks would inspire an easing of campus protests.
Protesters on Columbia's Manhattan campus locked arms early Tuesday and carried furniture and metal barricades to Hamilton Hall, among several buildings that were occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest. Protest organizers posted on Instagram soon after midnight urging people to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall. A “Free Palestine” banner hung from a window.
On social media Tuesday, the protest group CU Apartheid Divest called the building Hind’s Hall, honoring a young girl who was among the relatives killed in a vehicle in Gaza under Israeli fire.
Hamilton Hall opened in 1907 and is named for Alexander Hamilton — one of the U.S. founding fathers — who attended King's College, Columbia's original name.
“Students occupying the building face expulsion,” Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said in a statement Tuesday. He said the university had given protesters a chance to leave peacefully and finish the semester, but that those who didn't agree to the terms were being suspended — restricted from all academic and recreational spaces, allowed only to enter their residences, and, for seniors, ineligible to graduate.
“Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation — vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances — and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday,” he said.
A CU Apartheid Divest spokesperson said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon that some students recently learned they had been suspended for protesting. She declined to give her name but said she is a Columbia graduate student who has been suspended and is not allowed back on campus.
She stressed that she was not a representative of the students who seized the administration building, but pledged that their commitment wouldn’t waver, despite the risk to their educations and careers.
“We are willing to take on an extremely minor amount of risk compared to what the heroic people of Gaza are dealing with every single day,” she said.
Later, the tent encampment was quiet and nearly empty. A small band of protesters chanted behind the university's locked gates as reporters and others watched from the other side.
Access to the campus was limited to students living in the residential buildings and essential employees, with one access point into and out of campus. New York Police Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said officers won’t enter Columbia’s campus without the college administration's request or an imminent emergency.
Among students suspended by Columbia Tuesday was Mahmoud Khalil, a lead negotiator before talks with the administration broke down over the weekend. His suspension letter — which he shared with The Associated Press — said he had refused to leave the encampment after prior warnings. Khalil said he had abided by the university’s demand to vacate the lawn by the Monday afternoon deadline.
Protesters have insisted they will remain in the hall until the university agrees to three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.
Ilana Lewkovitch, a 21-year-old self-described “leftist Zionist” student at Columbia, said it’s been hard to concentrate on school for weeks, amid calls for Zionists to die or leave campus. Lewkovitch, who identifies as Jewish, said she wished the current pro-Palestinian protests were more open to people like her who criticize Israel's war policies but believe there should be an Israeli state.
“I did an exam yesterday, a final exam yesterday, and the background noise was ‘say it loud, say it clear, we want Zionists out of here,’” the neuroscience student who studied at Columbia’s Tel Aviv campus said. “I have a final due today and I have a final exam due tomorrow and I cannot go to the library.”
The campus standoffs drew concern from the White House. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden believes students occupying an academic building is “absolutely the wrong approach,” and “not an example of peaceful protest.” And Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said “there must be accountability” for the building takeover, "whether that’s disciplinary action from the school or from law enforcement.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that "it is up to the university authorities to have the wisdom to properly manage situations like the ones we have witnessed.”
At California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where protesters occupied two buildings, dozens of police officers in helmets and carrying batons marched onto campus and cleared both overnight. The university said 25 were arrested and there were no injuries. The sweep was broadcast on the Facebook page of KAEF-TV, a satellite of KRCR-TV, until police detained the reporter.
President Tom Jackson Jr. said in a statement that “nobody wanted to see things come to this,” but that “serious criminal activity that crossed the line well beyond the level of a protest had put the campus at ongoing risk.”
California Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, whose district includes the campus, said damage there was estimated at more than $1 million.
Yale authorities cleared an encampment Tuesday morning after protesters heeded final warnings to leave, university officials said. No arrests were reported. Demonstrators said on social media that they were moving their gathering to a sidewalk. The encampment was set up Sunday, six days after police arrested nearly 50 people and took down dozens of tents.
Dozens of people were arrested Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah, Virginia and New Jersey.
On Tuesday, police cleared an encampment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and detained about 30 people. Later, protesters replaced an American flag there with a Palestinian one. Police then rehung the American flag. Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts told reporters that removing the American flag was “antithetical” to the nature of the UNC community. Some students responded by shouting he was “supporting the genocide of Palestinians.” Classes were canceled Tuesday.
At the University of Connecticut, police made arrests after protesters refused to remove tents. The downtown campus of Portland State University in Oregon, where protesters had been demonstrating mostly peacefully until a small group broke into the library late Monday, was closed.
The nationwide campus protests began in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.
Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as antisemitic, while Israel's critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.
In a rare case, Northwestern University said it reached an agreement with students and faculty who represent the majority of protesters on its campus near Chicago to allow peaceful demonstrations through the end of spring classes.
Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Associated Press journalists around the country contributed to this report, including Karen Matthews, Jim Vertuno, Hannah Schoenbaum, Sarah Brumfield, Stefanie Dazio, Christopher Weber, Carolyn Thompson, Dave Collins, Makiya Seminera, Philip Marcelo and Corey Williams.
This story has been corrected to show that Columbia University has not canceled its main graduation event.
Pro-Palestinian protesters settled into a portico of Millar Library on the Portland State University campus over the weekend, shown on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Permission was originally granted by President Ann Cudd, but the PSU president reversed course on Monday and saying it needs to come down because of health and safety hazards. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Portland State University's library, advocating for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Portand, Ore. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Portland State University's library, advocating for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP)
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters gather at Portland State University in support of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at Portland State University in support of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Portland State University's library, advocating for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Portland State University's library, advocating for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Portland State University's library, advocating for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP)
Stickers and Palestininan flags cover a statue of George Washington at an encampment by students protesting against the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Police stand in front of a University of Utah sign as they move demonstrators who had gathered to show support for Palestinians off the property at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Scott G Winterton/The Deseret News via AP)
Demonstrators pray at the President's Circle after setting up an encampment in support of Palestinians at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Marielle Scott/The Deseret News via AP)
A Gaza Solidarity Encampment by the Occidental College Students for Justice in Palestine on the campus of Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Calif., on Monday, April 29, 2024. According to a press release by organizers of the event, "this network reflects a steadfast solidarity in our communal struggle against settler colonialism, Zionism, and U.S. imperialism." (Hans Gutknecht/The Orange County Register via AP)
Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters seat down at the Old Campus after they rally at the University of Georgia, Athens, campus in Athens, Ga., following arrests on Monday, April 29, 2024. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
A Gaza Solidarity Encampment by the Occidental College Students for Justice in Palestine on the campus of Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Calif., on Monday, April 29, 2024. According to a press release by organizers of the event, "this network reflects a steadfast solidarity in our communal struggle against settler colonialism, Zionism, and U.S. imperialism." (Hans Gutknecht/The Orange County Register via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protester chant with dozens of people as they rally at University of Georgia, Athens campus in Athens following arrests on Monday, April 29, 2024. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Police move in and make arrests on demonstrators gathered to show support for Palestinians at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Scott G Winterton/The Deseret News via AP)
International Affairs student Zeena Mohamed addresses the protesters after being released from jail during a rally University of Georgia, Athens campus in Athens, Ga., following arrests Monday, April 29, 2024. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Demonstrators are seen through a window inside Hamilton Hall inside the Columbia University campus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking it over on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Students have been occupying part of campus since April 17, calling for the university to divest from institutions that have ties to Israel. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students try to prevent the Gaza Solidarity Encampment from taking over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight before taking over the hall. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking over it on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Students have been occupying part of campus since April 17, calling for the university to divest from institutions that have ties to Israel. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza solidarity encampment block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking over it on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment break the doors to the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking over it on Tuesday, April 30. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Students have been occupying part of campus since Wednesday, April 17, around 4 a.m. Calling for the university to divest from institutions that have ties to Israel. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students protesters with the Gaza solidarity encampment move tents from the South West lawn at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight before taking over Hamilton Hall. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment break the doors to the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking over it on Tuesday, April 30. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Students have been occupying part of campus since Wednesday, April 17, around 4 a.m. Calling for the university to divest from institutions that have ties to Israel. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment take over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Protesters name it Hind's Hall as an homage to Hind Rajab, who was found dead 12 days after she called for help in Gaza. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment take over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Protesters name it Hind's Hall as an homage to Hind Rajab, who was found dead 12 days after she called for help in Gaza. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking over it on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Students have been occupying part of campus since April 17, calling for the university to divest from institutions that have ties to Israel. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students try to prevent the Gaza Solidarity Encampment from taking over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight before taking over the hall. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students try to prevent the Gaza Solidarity Encampment from taking over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight before taking over the hall. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students protesters with the Gaza solidarity encampment move tents from the South West lawn at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight before taking over Hamilton Hall. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza solidarity encampment block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking over it on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Student protesters with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment place a keffiyeh on Columbia University's Alma Mater on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight, then took over Hamilton Hall building. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment take over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University naming it Hind's Hall, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Protesters named it Hind's Hall as an homage to Hind Rajab, who was found dead 12 days after she called for help in Gaza. Students have been occupying part of campus calling for the university to divest from institutions that have ties to Israel. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking over it on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. Students have been occupying part of campus since April 17, calling for the university to divest from institutions that have ties to Israel. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
FILE - Part of some estimated 300 students at Columbia University are shown milling around Hamilton Hall on the campus in New York, April 24, 1968. The students are protesting the construction of a gymnasium in a public park and the university's participation in a defense-related program. A couple of students stand on pedestal of the statue of Alexander Hamilton while others hang a poster of Stokely Carmichael from the balcony of the building along with a Viet Cong flag. (AP Photo/Jacob Harris, File)
Police arrive at a pro-Palestinian rally at Virginia Commonwealth University, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Demonstrators and law enforcement officers clash during a pro-Palestinian rally at Virginia Commonwealth University, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Law enforcement officers hold shields during a pro-Palestinian rally at Virginia Commonwealth University, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Demonstrators stand behind a sign in preparation for police to arrive during a pro-Palestinian rally at Virginia Commonwealth University, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
University of Oregon students set up a tent encampment at the university to protest the Israel-Hamas war on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A University of Oregon student carves a design into a stamp to be used on cloth at a tent encampment at the university that was set up to protest the Israel-Hamas war, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A student at the University of Oregon sets up a sign that reads "Divest from death" as students set up a tent encampment at the university to protest the Israel-Hamas war on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A student at the University of Oregon looks into a tent with other students at an encampment at the university that was set up to protest the Israel-Hamas war on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Pro-Palestinian protesters continued to occupy the grounds at University of California, Los Angeles in front of Royce Hall on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Los Angeles. Security has surrounded the encampment after a skirmish broke out Sunday between the Pro-Palestianian protesters and Israel supporters. (David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP)
Speakers take turns addressing a rally on Francis Quadrangle at the University of Missouri campus Monday, April 29, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. Students staged a walkout and demonstration calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. The group made up of about 300 peopl, met at Lowry Mall and walked to the Quad and back. (Brian W. Kratzer/Missourian via AP)
A person who declined to give their name maneuvers among tents at an encampment by students protesting against the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Barricades torn down by demonstrators are piled in the center of an encampment by students protesting against the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Israel supporters look on at a pro-Palestinian encampment in front of Royce Hall at UCLA, Monday, April 29, 2024. Pro-Palestinian supporters joined in a march from their encampment in front of Royce Hall to areas around the campus. (David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters stand with linked arms surrounded by Texas state troopers and police at an encampment at University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
State troopers arrest a person at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
A protester is taken away by University of Texas at Austin police at an encampment on the campus Monday, April 29, 2024. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Student protesters march round their encampment on the Columbia University campus, Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
A sign is shown written over to read "University of Palestine" at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Washington campus Monday, April 29, 2024, in Seattle. The group is demanding that the university divest from Israel and cut ties with Boeing, which manufactures products used by Israel Defense Forces. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A state trooper pepper sprays protesters at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
State troopers arrest a pro-Palestinian protester at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
University of South Florida police officers take pro-Palestinian protesters into custody during a march on the campus Monday, April 29, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
People gather on the grass at a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Washington campus Monday, April 29, 2024, in Seattle. The group is demanding that the university divest from Israel and cut ties with Boeing, which manufactures products used by Israel Defense Forces. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A pro-Palestinian protester is grabbed by University of South Florida police as they begin to clash on campus Monday, April 29, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Police arrest a pro-Palestinian protester at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Monday April 29, 2024. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
A pro-Palestinian protester yells "Free Palestine" as she is handcuffed by University of Texas at Austin police on the campus Monday, April 29, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
A Palestinian flag flutters in the wind as University of Oregon students set up a tent encampment at the university to protest the Israel-Hamas war on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Police pepper spray pro-Palestinian protesters blocking police vehicles from leaving the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
A student at the University of Oregon is silhouetted in front of a Palestinian flag inside a tent encampment at the university that was set up to protest the Israel-Hamas war, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A pro-Palestinian protester yells as state troopers stand during a protest at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Monday April, 29, 2024. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
