Boston police arrest 100 as crackdown on campus Palestine protests ramps up

At least 93 students detained at USC and 34 arrested in Austin while House speaker faced jeers at Columbia University

More than 100 people were arrested at Emerson College in Boston early on Thursday in the latest crackdown against the rising wave of campus pro-Palestinian protests across the US that has seen the House speaker, Mike Johnson, suggest calling in the national guard.

Johnson waded into an already tense situation on Wednesday with a visit to Columbia University, where the decision last week of the university president, Minouche Shafik, to invite the NYPD to dismantle a student encampment catalysed what is rapidly becoming a national movement. Johnson nevertheless called for the resignation of Shafik, facing jeers on campus from the pro-Palestinian protesters.