Anti-war protesters leave USC after police arrive, while Northeastern ceremony proceeds calmly

Students protesting the war in Gaza abandoned their camp at the University of Southern California early Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest, while Northeastern University's commencement ended peacefully at Boston's Fenway Park.

Developments in both places were being watched closely following scores of arrests last month — more than 90 people at USC in Los Angeles and about 100 at Northeastern in Boston.

Dozens of Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived about 4 a.m. at USC to assist campus safety officers. The university had warned of arrests on social media and in person. Video showed some protesters packing up and leaving, while officers formed lines to push others away from the camp as it emptied out. The university said there were no reports of any arrests.

USC President Carol Folt said it was time to draw a line because “the occupation was spiraling in a dangerous direction” with areas of campus blocked and people being harassed.

“The operation was peaceful," Folt wrote in an update. “Campus is opening, students are returning to prepare for finals, and commencement set-up is in full swing.”

USC earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony while allowing other commencement activities to continue.

Across town at the University of California, Los Angeles, officials announced the creation of a new chief safety officer position to oversee campus security operations. The announcement Sunday came after UCLA was criticized for its handling of demonstrations that culminated in a mob attack on a pro-Palestinian student encampment last week.

At the Northeastern commencement Sunday, some students waved small Palestinian and Israeli flags, but were outnumbered by those waving the flags of India and the U.S., among others. Undergraduate student speaker Rebecca Bamidele drew brief cheers when she called for peace in Gaza.

The Associated Press has tallied about 2,500 people arrested at about 50 campuses since April 18, based on its reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement.

Arrests continued apace over the weekend. At the University of Virginia, there were 25 arrests Saturday for trespassing after police clashed with protesters who refused to remove tents. At the Art Institute of Chicago campus, police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment hours after it was set up Saturday and arrested 68 people, saying they would be charged with criminal trespass.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, student demonstrators began their protest on a lawn outside the school chapel Tuesday. Video on Saturday showed police in riot gear and holding shields lined up on campus, while protesters chanted “Free Palestine.”

As police moved in, students were pushed to the ground, pulled by their arms and sprayed with a chemical irritant, Laura Goldblatt, an assistant professor who has been helping the demonstrators, told The Washington Post. The university said protesters were told that tents were banned under school policy and were asked to remove them.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares told Fox News on Sunday the police response was justified because students had been warned repeatedly to leave, were violating the school's conduct code, and that outsiders who were not students provided protesters with supplies like wooden barriers.

"We’ve seen folks that are not students show up in riot gear with bull horns to direct the protesters on how to flank our officers," Miyares said.

He said some had put bear spray into water bottles and thrown them at officers.

It was the latest clash in weeks of protests and tension at U.S. colleges and universities.

Tent encampments of protesters urging universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread in a student movement unlike any other this century. Some schools reached agreements with protesters to end the demonstrations and reduce the possibility of disrupting final exams and commencements.

The University of Michigan was among the schools that had braced for protests during commencement this weekend, as were Indiana University, Ohio State University and Northeastern. More ceremonies are planned in the coming weeks.

In Ann Arbor, there was a protest at the beginning of the event at Michigan Stadium. About 75 people, many wearing traditional Arabic kaffiyehs along with their graduation caps, marched up the main aisle toward the stage.

They chanted “Regents, regents, you can’t hide! You are funding genocide!” while holding signs, including one that read: “No universities left in Gaza.”

Overhead, planes pulled banners with competing messages. “Divest from Israel now! Free Palestine!” and “We stand with Israel. Jewish lives matter.”

Officials said no one was arrested, and the protest didn’t seriously interrupt the nearly two-hour event, attended by tens of thousands of people, some of them waving Israeli flags.

At Indiana University, protesters urged supporters to wear their kaffiyehs and walk out during remarks by school President Pamela Whitten on Saturday evening. The Bloomington campus designated a protest zone outside Memorial Stadium, where the ceremony was held.

At Princeton University in New Jersey, 18 students began a hunger strike to try to push the university to divest from companies tied to Israel. Students at other colleges, including Brown and Yale, launched similar hunger strikes this year before the more recent wave of demonstrations.

The protests stem from the conflict that started Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.

Perry reported form Meredith, New Hampshire, and Marcelo from New York. Also contributing were Associated Press reporters Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; Ed White in Detroit, and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee.

CORRECTS NAME TO ROUSE DAVIS BOYCE INSTEAD OF CONNOR MOORE - University of Mississippi student and counter-protester Rouse Davis Boyce, center, taunts graduate student Jaylin R. Smith with a piece of bread during a protest in support of Palestinians on Thursday, May 2, 2024, outside the J.D. Williams Library on the school campus in Oxford, Miss. (HG Biggs/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

A demonstrator stands in front of an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the campus at the University of Southern California after police arrived with orders to disperse Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

People carry belongings out of an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators after police arrived for a raid on the campus at the University of Southern California Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

People carry belongings out of an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators after police arrived for a raid on the campus at the University of Southern California Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

A person protests in front of a police officer after police arrived on the campus at the University of Southern California to clear an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

A protestors gestures near police officers after a raid on the pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus at the University of Southern California Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Police gather on the campus at the University of Southern California prior to clearing out an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators remove belongings from an encampment after police arrived on the campus at the University of Southern California Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

People stand guard outside an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the campus at the University of Southern California Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Police form a line where pro-Palestinian protesters set up tents on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

A pro-Palestinian supporter holds a sign reading "State Police=KKK" on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where they set up tents, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

Police use a microphone as a pro-Palestinian demonstrator listens on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents were set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

A graduate holds his cap with an Israeli flag while shouting at pro-Palestinian protesters as they demonstrate during the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Katy Kildee/Detroit News via AP)

Rawan Antar, 21, center, chants in support of Palestinians during the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Katy Kildee/Detroit News via AP)

Graduates sporting Israeli flags and pins shout at Pro-Palestinian protesters as they demonstrate during the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Katy Kildee/Detroit News via AP)

Graduate Ari Belchinsky wears pro-Israel pins during the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate during the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024.( Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

A graduate waits for the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony to begin at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

CORRECTS PHRASE ON BANNER - A plane pulling a banner that reads "Divest From Israel Now! Free Palestine" flies overhead before the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Katy Kildee/Detroit News via AP)

A plane bearing a banner that reads ""We stand with Israel jewishlivesmatter.us" flies overhead before the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Graduates sporting Israeli flags and pins shout at Pro-Palestinian protesters as they demonstrate during the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024.( Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate during the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024.( Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Police and pro-Palestinian demonstrators stand across from one another on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

Police move pro-Palestinian demonstrators back from the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

The aftermath of a site is seen after authorities broke up a demonstration by pro-Palestinian protesters on the campus of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators take videos and photos with their phones on the University of Virginia campus as police break up what authorities called an "unlawful assembly," in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate during the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024.( Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate during the University of Michigan's Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Police with riot shields form a line across from pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

A police officer, right, watches a protester wave a Palestinian flag on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

Police with riot shields detain a pro-Palestinian demonstrator on the ground as a National Lawyers Guild representative holds up an emergency contact notebook, on the University of Virginia campus, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator wears goggles and a mask as police with riot shields and protesters stand across from one another on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

Police lift a pro-Palestinian demonstrator from the ground on the University of Virginia campus, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler’s arrest and prompt release from a Louisville jail Friday that let him play in a high-profile tournament after being booked on charges including felony assault has sparked questions over whether he was given preferential treatment because of his fame.

Some social media users raised the issue of malfeasance by the Louisville police department, which a national report last year found has used excessive force and invalid search warrants.

Police are continuing their investigation, but here's a look at the incident and policing in Louisville:

Officers were redirecting traffic after a fatal accident near the Valhalla Golf Club when Scheffler allegedly disobeyed an officer's command. His car accelerated forward and dragged the officer to the ground, according to a police report, and the officer suffered injuries to his wrist and was taken to the hospital.

The 27-year-old Scheffler, who lives in Texas, was arrested outside the club just after 6 a.m., taken to jail, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and had his mug shot taken. The Louisville Metro Police Department said he was booked on four charges, including second-degree assault of a police officer.

But by 10:08 a.m., he was on the other side of the city and teeing off at the PGA Championship. Scheffler had been released on his own recognizance, without posting bond, after agreeing that he would make all his court dates in Louisville.

Scheffler and his attorney have said he didn't intentionally do anything wrong, and he misunderstood police commands and simply was trying to get to the course. His lawyer previously represented the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police in 2020, in a civil suit against the city a few years ago.

Scheffler was greeted with cheers by fans when he arrived at the golf course, but some in Louisville with memories of a turbulent past took a dim view of the incident.

“A man drags a cop with his vehicle and hospitalizes him. He’s arrested ... charged with a felony ... and then immediately released so he can make his tee time? Did I get that right?” said Ricky L. Jones, a University of Louisville professor of pan-African studies, on the social platform X.

Bill Miller, a local golf fan who was at the course Friday, said it cast Louisville and the police in a negative light.

“It’s just another bad look for the city,” Miller said. “I’d want to understand what the cop was trying to do. But it’s sad.”

A spokesperson for Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said Saturday there is no police body camera video of the initial encounter between Scheffler and the officer. The officer was directing traffic at the time, and the department’s officers typically don’t record video with their body cameras while directing traffic, Kevin Trager, the mayor’s press secretary, wrote in a text message to an Associated Press reporter.

Elsewhere, the incident drew reaction from an Atlanta-area pastor who hosted a funeral for Roger Fortson, a young Black senior airman who was shot by a Florida sheriff’s deputy at his home this month.

“Something is wrong in America,” said Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. “You have respect for a golfer, but you don’t have respect for (Fortson) and for a person who has given their life to this nation. You cannot remain silent in the face of injustice.”

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear took heat on X for a post encouraging people to welcome golf tournament fans “with the kindness and hospitality we’re known for.” One commenter replied with Scheffler's mug shot and observed that Beshear's post had not aged well.

The department has attracted negative national attention in recent years after the fatal shooting of Taylor in 2020 and a federal investigation into its policing practices. It has also been the subject of protests over its policing.

A Department of Justice report released last year said Louisville officers use excessive force and conduct searches based on invalid warrants. It also said Black motorists in the city were more likely to be searched during traffic stops, and officers used neck restraints, police dogs and stun guns against people who posed no imminent threat.

Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot by officers who came to her apartment with a warrant that federal officials later said was falsified.

The police department was lauded, however, for its response to a mass shooting at a bank in 2023, when the shooter armed with an AR-15 was quickly killed before he could hurt more people. One officer who had just joined the force was struck in the head by a bullet, sustaining a brain injury.

Last year the department hired as its new police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the first Black woman to hold the position. The city continues to negotiate a consent decree with federal officials that will stipulate what policing reforms should take place.

Associated Press Writers Aaron Morrison in New York and Eddie Pells in Louisville contributed to this report.

In this still image made from video provided by ESPN, Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is put into a police car after being handcuffed near Valhalla Golf Club, site of the PGA Championship golf tournament, early Friday, May 17, 2024. (ESPN via AP)

In this mug shot provided by the Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections Friday, May 17, 2024, Scott Scheffler is shown. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was detained by police Friday morning on his way to the PGA Championship, with stunning images showing him handcuffed as he was led to a police car. (Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections via AP)

Scottie Scheffler walks to the tee on the 11th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Scottie Scheffler celebrates after a birdie on the 12th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)