MIT will suspend any student protesters who did not leave the Kresge lawn by 2:30 p.m. Monday, the administration said in a letter to the campus community — leading police to block off the encampment and droves of new protesters to rally on the campus.

“In short, this prolonged use of MIT property as a venue for protest, without permission, especially on an issue with such sharp disagreement, is no longer safely sustainable,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth wrote in the letter. … “We have directed students to leave the encampment peacefully by 2:30 p.m. today. We’ve provided them with a letter from Chancellor Nobles that gives as much clarity as possible about the choices they have, and the pathways associated with each of these choices.”

About five to six MIT students remained in the camp Monday, MIT graduate student and protester Sam Ihns said just after 3 p.m. The tents in the encampment remained standing through Monday afternoon, though the area was blocked by fences and tarps. Entrances to the area were surrounded and monitored by dozens of police.

Sometime after 6:30 p.m. a group of students broke through the barriers and rejoined the encampment.

The escalation on MIT’s campus comes as pro-Palestine protests and encampments continue at colleges around the U.S., and hundreds of students have been arrested from Emerson, Northeastern and other campus protests.

Hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered on the Kresge lawn and surrounding area through Monday evening. MIT protesters continued to call for the university to cut research ties with the Israeli Department of Defense, noting a program researching drones for their military.

A smaller group of counterprotesters gathered with American and Israeli flags on and around picnic tables in the area. The groups were separated by a barrier enforced by state police around 5 p.m. Interactions remained heated — with groups trading expletives and accusations of supporting “murder” and “terrorism” — but not visibly violent.

The MIT president expressed concerns for student’s “physical safety,” as well as “outside interference and potential violence” in her letter. The letter cited reports of “widely disseminated literature that advocates escalation, with very clear instructions and suggested means.”

Protesters accused the MIT administration of not negotiating “in good faith” and recently cutting off the negotiations entirely.

“Not only did they never actually bring a proposal to the table, they simply denied every proposal that was brought to them,” said Ihns, who is a member of MIT Jews for Ceasefire. … “What we’re asking for is completely reasonable, to cut ties with the Israeli Ministry of Defense. When Russia invaded Ukraine, MIT completely cut research ties with Russia in less than 24 hours. So there’s a huge precedent for this.”

A group of dozens of high school students from the area arrived to shut down Massachusetts Ave. around 4 p.m.

“With the popularity of this movement, and the hundreds or thousands of students who are involved, our commitment and our resolve has never been stronger,” said Ihns. “So encampment or not, we’re gonna keep putting pressure on MIT in every way we can to cut these ties.”

MIT and Cambridge Police did not respond immediately to requests for comment, Monday.

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