Pro-Palestinian Protests Simmer in Campus Standoffs Amid Growing Fears of Violence

Dozens of universities across more than 30 states remain embroiled in confrontations between pro-Palestinian protesters and police on May 3 with officials coast-to-coast calling for calm and raising alarm about the growing presence on campuses of “outside agitators” and counter-demonstrators promoting violence. Skirmishing between protesters, often within makeshift encampments on campus quads, and organized, tactical counter-demonstrators raged for hours at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) on May 1. Late on May 2, Portland police reported a man in a car spraying “some kind of pepper spray” scattered protesters at Portland State University in Oregon, where 30 were arrested for trespassing for failing to disperse....