Pro-Palestinian protesters occupy Atlanta's Emory University, video shows cops firing rubber bullets

Atlanta's Emory University is one of the latest to witness pro-Palestinian protesters gathering on the campus. The lawn of the university's Decatur campus was occupied with dozens of people with signs and tents.

Mondoweiss.net said that the protest was in support of Palestine’s people and against the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. The protesters included a group of students from across several Atlanta universities, it has been reported.

The demonstrators organised the protest against Cop City – a name they have given to the training centre. The protesters reportedly said they are "demanding total institutional divestment from Israeli apartheid and Cop City at all Atlanta colleges and universities."

What are the protesters saying?

“We are occupying Emory, not because it is the only institution that is complicit in genocide and police militarization, but because its ties are some of the strongest. Emory University, the Atlanta University Center Consortium, Georgia State University, and Georgia Tech have all intimidated and repressed students and employees who spoke out in support of Palestinians. These institutions have all refused to divest from Cop City and the Zionist occupation,” the protesters said.

A video shared on X appears to show Georgia police officers firing rubber bullets into a crowd at Emory University. It is unclear how many people have been arrested in Atlanta. Across the US, however, 400 protesters from various universities have been taken into custody.

“The fight against Cop City and for Palestinian liberation are both frontiers in the same struggle against the mechanisms of state-sanctioned violence and repression,” the Atlanta protesters said.

“As residents of Atlanta and participants in this global community, our challenge is to recognize these connections and mobilize. This involves not only resisting specific projects like Cop City but also advocating for a transformation in how our institutions—be they educational, political, or social—invest in community safety and our humanity,” they added.

Among other arrests that have been reported, at least 108 protesters at Emerson College have been arrested by the Boston police. As many as 93 people refusing to disperse from the University of Southern California campus were arrested by the Los Angeles police. 57 people were reportedly arrested by police in riot gear at the University of Texas in Austin. Columbia University and NYU have long been making headlines for the demonstrations and subsequent arrests. Despite the series of arrests, however, new protests continue to erupt across the country.