‘It is a matter of will’: DeSantis calls on universities to enforce code of conduct during protests

Florida public universities deal with antiwar protests

A George Washington University police officer stands watch in the schools University Yard which has been closed as students protest the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) (Cliff Owen, Copyright 2024 the Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)

The University of Florida and Florida State University warned students who were protesting the Israel-Hamas war with on-campus encampments this week that they could face consequences.

On Thursday, in Tallahassee, FSU students set up “Occupy Landis” to protest the actions in Gaza of the Israeli military after the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. On Wednesday, in Gainesville, there was a similar protest at the Plaza of the Americas.

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“Yes, it is a matter of will,” Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on X Friday about a call for universities to enforce the code of conduct.

Both of Florida’s public universities prohibit camping on campus. Videos of the way on-campus law enforcement confronted protesters at universities across the country went viral Friday. Counter-protesters also responded.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported some of the organizations represented at the FSU protest included the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Tallahassee Dissenters, an “anti-imperialist” group.

The UF Fresh Take Florida reported on WUFT that UF administrators planned to fire employees and suspend or ban students for three years if they violated rules during the protest.

The Massachusetts State Police reported arresting over 100 protesters on Saturday at Northeastern University in Boston. There was a similar scene on Friday at The University of Pennsylvania. The encampment at Columbia University was still up.

Related links: UF code of conduct | FSU code of conduct

More coverage on the protests

The Palestinian flag is flown during a protest of the Israel-Hamas war at George Washington University in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Protests and encampments have sprung up on college and university campuses across the country to protest the war. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) (Copyright 2024 the Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York. With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. (AP Photo)
Pro-Palestinian protesters camp out in tents at Columbia University on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in New York. With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. (AP Photo)
A chalk statement is seen on the road leading to the George Washington University Yard as students protest the Israel-Hamas war, in Washington, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) (Copyright 2024 the Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)
A passer-by, right, walks through an encampment of tents, Thursday, April 25, 2024, on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, in Cambridge, Mass. Students at MIT set up the encampment of tents on the campus to protest what they said was MIT's failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to cut ties to Israel's military. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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