Police arrested 13 people at Stanford University after pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied the school president and provost´s offices early Wednesday, causing what officials described as "extensive" vandalism inside and outside the building.
The takeover began around dawn on the last day of spring classes at the university in California´s Silicon Valley, and ended three hours later. Some protesters barricaded themselves inside the building while others linked arms outside, The Stanford Daily reported. The group chanted "Palestine will be free, we will free Palestine."
Demonstrators cheered in support of those being arrested as the detainees were escorted out of the building and loaded into law enforcement vehicles, The AP reported.
The student newspaper said one of its reporters was among those detained.
Protest camps have sprung up on university campuses across the US and in Europe as students demand their universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that support its war efforts.
Organizers seek to amplify calls to end Israel´s war against Hamas in Gaza, which they describe as a genocide against the Palestinians. The top United Nations court has concluded there is a "plausible risk of genocide" in Gaza - a charge Israel strongly denies.
