Spiralling pro-Palestinian protests that are rocking universities across the United States have spread to more campuses, triggering suggestions from a senior Republican leader that the National Guard could be brought in.
The comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson are likely to evoke strong emotions in a country where the 1970 killing by National Guardsmen of unarmed students protesting the Vietnam War lives on in folk memory.
Demonstrations erupted on Wednesday at the University of Southern California and in Texas, where a tense standoff developed between students and police in riot gear, with more than 20 people detained. It was the latest confrontation between law enforcement and students protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza.
The movement began at Columbia University in New York City, where dozens of arrests were made last week after university authorities called in police to quell an occupation.
Johnson told reporters at Columbia that if the demonstrations were not contained quickly, it would be “an appropriate time for the National Guard”.Student protesters say they are expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where the death toll has topped 34,300.
