Several civil rights groups signed a letter on Thursday pressing the Justice and Education departments to investigate law enforcement’s actions against pro-Palestinian protesters across the country, according to NBC News.
More than a dozen civil rights groups are urging the Education Department and Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate local law enforcement’s physical reactions to college campus protests in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Austin, according to NBC News. The civil rights organizations asked for investigations to be launched to probe whether officials at Columbia University, Emory University, the University of Texas (UT) at Austin and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) violated the Civil Rights Act.
The civil rights groups who signed the letter included the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Amnesty International and several Jewish and Arab peace groups, according to NBC News.
The letter asked the departments to “take immediate action to address possible civil rights violations committed by university officials in connection with peaceful protests on campuses,” according to NBC News. It states that some law enforcement departments used “militarized force and tactics,” like rubber bullets and other nonlethal courses of action.
A pro-Palestinian protestor is arrested by Texas State troopers and university police at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on April 29, 2024. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs, guaranteeing equal protection in universities and colleges. (RELATED: New Documentary Uncovers How Outside Activists Infiltrated So-Called ‘Campus Protest’)
Thousands of people were arrested on college campuses across the country by university, state and local law enforcement, according to NBC News. In April and May, different protests at UT Austin, UCLA, Columbia and Emory all forced law enforcement to take action to quell the demonstrations.
At UCLA, an encampment in May left a mess of trash covering campus grounds after police arrested nearly 100 protesters. The protesters vandalized buildings with graffiti and left plywood, signs and other piles of garbage.
A police officer tackled a protester at Emory in April, bringing the individual down in response to the mass protest that occurred on campus. Other law enforcement officers at the scene arrested several agitators and confirmed the use of chemical irritants to ward off protesters.
Law enforcement at UT Austin pepper sprayed protesters in April as a response to protesters creating chaos on campus. The officers made a blockade with their cars and bikes to prevent the protesters from moving forward.
In April, protesters at Columbia broke in and occupied a campus building, trapping an employee inside. Police arrested hundreds of demonstrators, but certain charges were dropped by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The education department and DOJ did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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