Dozens of protesters were arrested at the University of Texas at Austin, organizers said

Dozens of protesters were arrested at the University of Texas at Austin, organizers said

Dozens of people were arrested on Monday in protests on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, according to the University Defend Palestine Encampment, which also claimed that officers used force to detain people.

The camp was formed on the school’s South Mall Lawn around 12:30 p.m. CT, and about an hour later, officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Austin Police Department and campus police responded wearing riot gear, organizers said in a statement.

“Approximately 40 people have been arrested, with reports of police using stun guns, maces, and other chemical munitions during the arrests,” the news release said.
The university is working to compile information, including the number of people arrested, for a news release late Monday, said Brian Davis, senior manager for crisis issues and communications at the university.

The Travis County Sheriff’s Office won’t have the number of arrests until Tuesday morning, spokeswoman Kristen Dark told CNN.

CNN has reached out to the Department of Public Safety for comment.

“We demand that UT disassociate itself from the Zionist state of Israel and from all institutions and companies that enable the current genocide in Gaza … We demand the resignation of President (Jay) Hartzell for green-lighting military repression of peaceful student protesters against their own campus,” Lenna Nasr, of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said in a news release.