It began with defiance at Columbia. Now students nationwide are upping their Gaza war protests

NEW YORK (AP) — What began last week when Columbia University students refused to end their protest against Israel’s war with Hamas had turned into a much larger movement by Tuesday as students across the nation set up encampments, occupied buildings and ignored demands to leave.

Protests had been bubbling for months but kicked into a higher gear after more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia's upper Manhattan campus were arrested Thursday. Dozens more protesters have been arrested at other campuses since, and many now face charges of trespassing or disorderly conduct.

With tensions at Columbia continuing to run high and some students afraid to set foot on the campus, officials said the Ivy League school will switch to hybrid learning for the rest of the semester, which will be finished by the end of next week.

At nearby New York University, police said 133 protesters were taken into custody late Monday and all had been released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said police officers were hit with bottles and other objects at some of this week’s protests.

In Connecticut, police arrested 60 protesters — including 47 students — Monday at Yale University, after they refused to leave an encampment on a plaza at the center of campus.

Yale President Peter Salovey said protesters had declined an offer to end the demonstration and meet with trustees. After several warnings, school officials determined “the situation was no longer safe,” so police cleared the encampment and made arrests.

In the Midwest on Tuesday, a demonstration at the center of the University of Michigan campus had grown to nearly 40 tents, and nine anti-war protesters at the University of Minnesota were arrested after police took down an encampment in front of the library. Hundreds rallied to the Minnesota campus in the afternoon to demand their release.

On the West Coast, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, announced that its campus would be closed through Wednesday after demonstrators occupied a building Monday night. Three protesters were arrested. Classes were to be conducted remotely, the school said on its website.

Since the war in Gaza began, colleges and universities have struggled to balance safety with free speech rights. Many long tolerated protests but are now doling out more heavy-handed discipline.

Harvard University in Massachusetts has tried to stay a step ahead of protests by locking most gates into its famed Harvard Yard and limiting access to those with school identification. The school has also posted signs that warn against setting up tents or tables on campus without permission.

Literature Ph.D. student Christian Deleon said he understood why the Harvard administration may be trying to avoid protests but said there still has to be a place for students to express what they think.

“We should all be able to use these kinds of spaces to protest, to make our voices heard,” he said.

Ben Wizner, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said college leaders faced extremely tough decisions because they had a responsibility to ensure people could express their views, even when others found them offensive.

“But they also need to protect students from targeted harassment, threats and intimidation," he said. “And sometimes that line can seem like a gray one.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union cautioned universities against being too quick to call in law enforcement in a statement Tuesday.

“Officials should not conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism or use hate incidents as a pretext to silence political views they oppose,” said Donna Lieberman, the group’s executive director.

Leo Auerbach, a student at the University of Michigan, said the differing stances on the war hadn’t led to his feeling unsafe on campus but he has been fearful of the “hateful rhetoric and antisemitic sentiment being echoed.”

“If we’re trying to create an inclusive community on campus, there needs to be constructive dialogue between groups,” Auerbach said. “And right now, there’s no dialogue that is occurring.”

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, physics senior Hannah Didehbani said protesters were inspired by those at Columbia.

“Right now there are several professors on campus who are getting direct research funding from Israel’s ministry of defense,” she said. “We’ve been calling for MIT to cut those research ties.”

Protesters at the University of California, Berkeley, which had an encampment of about 30 tents Tuesday, were also inspired by Columbia's demonstrators, “who we consider to be the heart of the student movement,” said law student Malak Afaneh.

Columbia President Minouche Shafik said in a message to the school community Monday that she was “deeply saddened” by what was happening on the campus, where some Jewish students say the criticism of Israel has veered into antisemitism.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson planned a trip to visit Jewish students at the university on Wednesday and address antisemitism on college campuses in a press conference.

Columbia has a history of protest, most notably in 1968, when hundreds of students angry about racism and the Vietnam War occupied five campus buildings. After a week, a thousand police officers swept in and cleared them out, making 700 arrests. The Associated Press reported at the time that 100 students and 15 police officers were injured.

Campus protests began after Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel, when militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. During the ensuing war, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and noncombatants but says at least two-thirds of the dead are children and women.

Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire. Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Triangle, Virginia; Larry Lage in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Steve LeBlanc in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jim Salter in O’Fallon, Missouri; Haven Daley in San Francisco; and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

New York City Police Department officers arrest pro-Palestinian protesters outside a student-led encampment at New York University on Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. The protest and encampment was set up to demand the university divest from weapons manufacturers and the Israeli government. The NYPD said 133 protesters were taken into custody on Monday, and all have been released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges. (AP Photo/Noreen Nasir)

Students protest at an encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Students protest at an encampment outside the Kresge Auditorium on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in front of Sproul Hall on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., Tuesday, April 23, 2024. The Israel-Hamas war protests creating friction at universities across the United States escalated Tuesday as some colleges encouraged students to attend classes remotely and dozens faced charges after setting up tents on campuses and ignoring official requests to leave. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

New York City Police Department officers arrest pro-Palestinian protesters outside a student-led encampment at New York University on Monday night, April 22, 2024, in New York. The protest and encampment was set up to demand the university divest from weapons manufacturers and the Israeli government. (AP Photo/Noreen Nasir)

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather near an encampment set up in front of Sproul Hall on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., Tuesday, April 23, 2024. The Israel-Hamas war protests creating friction at universities across the United States escalated Tuesday as some colleges encouraged students to attend classes remotely and dozens faced charges after setting up tents on campuses and ignoring official requests to leave. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

NYPD officers from the Strategic Response Group form a wall of protection around Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters Michael Gerber and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kay Daughtry, not in the picture, during a press conference regarding the ongoing pro-Palestinians protest encampment at Columbia University in New York on Monday, April 22, 2024. U.S. colleges and universities are preparing for end-of-year commencement ceremonies with a unique challenge: providing safety for graduates while honoring the free speech rights of students involved in protests over the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

A sign sits erected at the pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at Columbia University in New York, Monday, April 22, 2024. U.S. colleges and universities are preparing for end-of-year commencement ceremonies with a unique challenge: providing safety for graduates while honoring the free speech rights of students involved in protests over the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

FILE - Police in Riot gear stand guard as demonstrators chant slogans outside the Columbia University campus, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York. U.S. colleges and universities are preparing for end-of-year commencement ceremonies with a unique challenge: providing safety for graduates while honoring the free speech rights of students involved in protests over the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Jake Knapp is spending his weekends much differently now as a rookie on the PGA Tour, just more than two years after working security at a restaurant in his hometown that was also a late-night hotspot.

A first-time Tour winner earlier this year, Knapp went into this weekend leading the CJ Cup Byron Nelson after a second consecutive 7-under 64 on Friday. At 14-under 128, he was a stroke ahead of Troy Merritt (62) and first-round leader Matt Wallace (66), and two ahead of Kelly Kraft (66).

“Even when I was doing any of that stuff, I always knew this was what I wanted to do, and felt like it’s where I should be. Just wasn’t there yet,” Knapp said. “Just kept working away and sticking at it."

Merritt closed is season-low round with an eagle at the 531-yard ninth hole, where he hit his approach to 16 feet and made that putt. He had birdied four of the previous six holes.

Wallace finished on the same par 5 later in the day, and saved par after driving into a native area and then chunking a shot from there to under a bridge.

Hometown favorite Jordan Spieth, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 20, shot a 70 to finish at 4-under 138 and miss the cut by two strokes. On the 16th, his wayward drive ricocheted off the elbow of a male spectator back into the fairway. He still bogeyed the hole, then parred his last two.

Defending champion Jason Day closed his round with a 35-foot par putt for a 70, and was just on the cut line at 6-under 136.

Kris Kim, a 16-year-old from England, made the cut in his PGA Tour debut, shooting 68-67 to enter the weekend 7 under. His South Korean-born mother played on the LPGA Tour in the 1990s. He is the first amateur sponsored by South Korean Company CJ Group, the first-year sponsor of the Nelson, and is playing on a sponsor exemption.

Spieth was a 16-year-old amateur at the Nelson in 2010, when the Dallas native tied for 16th in his first PGA Tour start.

Knapp’s only bogey through the first two rounds was on his 12th hole Friday, the dogleg No. 3, where his drive went into the left rough. But he birdied four of his last six holes, that stretch starting with a 32-foot putt at the par-3, 192-yard fourth hole.

“Obviously, a putt you’re not trying to make,” he said. “Hit it a little bit harder than I would’ve liked and luckily it was on a good line and went in.”

Knapp, who turns 30 on May 31, lost his card on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour before taking the part-time job in the fall of 2021 at the place in Costa Mesa, California, where for nearly nine months he worked Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights — often until 2 or 3 a.m. The former UCLA player would practice and go to the gym in between his work shifts.

He got his third win on PGA Tour Canada in August 2022, and last year earned his PGA Tour card by finishing the season 13th on the Korn Ferry Tour. He won the Mexico Open in his fifth start this season, and his ninth overall, including two as an amateur in 2015.

His PGA Tour biography also touts that he can solve a Rubik’s Cube, loves to work out and would pursue a career in the fitness industry if he wasn’t playing golf.

“Yeah, few interesting ones about me,” Knapp said. “I do my best to, I’m kind of a golf-only guy. Just play a lot of golf and practice a lot. That’s been my focus for the last four, five years.”

At TPC Craig Ranch north of Dallas, Knapp hit 16 of 18 greens each of the first two rounds. He also had the same number of putts (28) both days, though the combined distance of those shots on the greens went from 75 feet on Thursday to 139 feet on Friday.

“For the most part hitting it pretty solid and keeping in the right areas. Made it relatively easy on myself.” Knapp said. “Early on in the year felt like I was putting well, and for the last month or so the stroke felt the same and ball wasn’t going in the hole. ... Nice to see a few more going in.”

Merritt opened his round with consecutive birdies before a three-putt bogey at No. 12, though he got that stroke right back with a 52-foot chip-in at No. 13. He made only his second cut in his past six tournaments, and finished 67th in the other one.

“It’s fantastic, especially when you hit the ball solid and making a lot putts," said Merritt, who is in his 331st PGA Tour event and last won in 2018. “You’re not accidentally there. You’ve actually played well to get there. I haven’t done that. I’ve accidently back-doored a couple top 10s last fall."

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Matt Wallace of England hits an approach shot on the 13th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Jason Day hits from the bunker on the sixth green during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Jordan Spieth stretches to see where his shot from the rough landed on the sixth green during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Jake Knapp waves on the 18th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Jordan Spieth gestures as the gallery applauds his putt on the sixth green during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Kelly Kraft hits an approach shot on the sixth hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Jake Knapp putts on the 18th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Matt Wallace of England lines up a putt on the 13th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Jake Knapp lines up a putt on the 18th hole during the second round of the Byron Nelson golf tournament in McKinney, Texas, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)