Biden: Right to free speech and rule of law must be upheld in pro-Palestinian protests

President Joe Biden says the pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. college campuses test two fundamental American principles, the right to free speech and the rule of law. He stressed that both must be upheld.

He spoke at the White House after police moved against a pro-Palestinian protest camp at the University of California, Los Angeles, early Thursday, pulling apart a barricade and arresting multiple people after issuing orders for people to leave.

The police action unfolded over hours, with officers initially standing near the protest camp and briefly pushing into the area before retreating as protesters cheered.

About an hour later, a larger group of officers returned, and while they were initially stymied at one end of a plaza by hundreds of protesters clogging stairs and walkways, officers converged on the main protest camp from another direction and quickly began tearing away plywood, metal fencing and tents.

The protesters, who are demanding the university divest from Israel, chanted “peaceful protest” as police equipped with helmets, face shields and batons worked to push people from the area.

The UCLA protest is one of many pro-Palestinian demonstrations at college campuses across the country, which have resulted in hundreds of arrests.

Police in New Hampshire made arrests and removed tents late Wednesday and early Thursday at Dartmouth College.

A pro-Palestinian protest camp emerged at Dartmouth on Wednesday as administrators warned that such a camp would violate school policy