The arrest of 108 at Emerson College in the pre-dawn hours had politicians taking shots at the police who warned the students pitching tents in a public way gave them no choice.

Social media video of the police sweep shows protesters being forcibly removed from the Boylston Place location around 2 a.m. Thursday, with some refusing to move in a scrum that also had protesters linking arms and chanting, “We keep us safe.”

Arrests were streamed live on some social media platforms as police moved in as community members had predicted because the college encampment is in an alley that leads to the state Transportation Building in downtown.

In total, Boston Police, receiving backup support from Massachusetts State Police, made 108 arrests during the escalation.

Four officers were injured, three “minor” and one with more serious injuries, according to department spokesman Sgt. Det. John Boyle. He told the Herald Thursday morning that no protesters had reported injuries.

Students throughout the day, however, told outlets that they didn’t walk away totally unscathed, with some suffering “open wounds” from zip ties.

City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, in a statement, condemned the police response, saying all students “have a right to feel safe” during protests.

“I caution against heavy-handed responses to protest,” she wrote. “While there are legitimate public safety concerns, the presence of tents alone does not transform a peaceful protest into an unpeaceful one.”

Councilor Ed Flynn issued his own statement, complementing Emerson College for showing “great restraint and professionalism during this time.”

“Emerson College provided the protesters more than enough time to respect the rules of the City of Boston,” he wrote. “After a period of time, and in the interest of public safety and accessibility, the protesters were removed and arrested in a professional manner by Boston Police.”

Body camera footage from the scene showed Capt. Sean Martin telling protesters he and fellow officers didn’t want to arrest anybody and that they supported the right to protest. But Martin also raised concerns about the encampment’s location and how the department received complaints from neighbors.

“You guys have been protesting all day,” Martin said around 1:30 a.m. “Listen, I get it and I support what you’re trying to do. … We were supposed to come down around 10 p.m., but we were looking to give you a space to let you all do this. But at a certain point, they have to go to work in the morning, as well. We’re trying to be reasonable with all them. We’re not trying to be unreasonable, I gave you guys several hours extra.”

Martin told the crowd that he was “free to answer any questions and speak to anybody who wants to speak to me.” The captain then finished, saying “We got to open up.”

That prompted a lead protester to start a “Free, free Palestine” chant. Martin is then heard telling an officer to initiate arrests.

The Berkeley Beacon, Emerson’s college student newspaper, posted in a live blog that the arrests began at 1:45 a.m., minutes after an officer was seen reading the city’s unlawful camping ordinance that bans individuals from setting up tents and tarps on public property.

“Boston is a city where upholding the right to protest is very important to us,” Mayor Michelle Wu told reporters at an unrelated morning event, “and we have many, many events and protests that occur in the city on a regular basis that take place without incident.

“Here,” she said, “we had been in communication with school officials and with the organizers and people on the ground as well that the tents in particular were posing a safety and health hazard, a fire hazard.”

The arrested protesters swarmed a fifth-floor hallway in Boston Municipal Court where they anticipated their arraignments just hours after they were cleared from the encampments. But the arraignments were pushed off until early next month because judges had been at a conference in the morning.

Attorney Antonio Viana, of the National Lawyers Guild, met with a small group of students in a side conference room before eight of them appeared in the courtroom and learned that they’d be released on personal recognizance and set to return to court in May.

“They were peacefully protesting until the Boston police came,” Viana told reporters in a court hallway. “I’ve heard in this court today people using expressions like ‘Antisemite’ and ‘future Hamas members.’ We do not benefit as a nation by labeling people who are out there expressing themselves.”

The Emerson arrests come as college protests have spread across the nation — sparking antisemitism against fellow Jewish students — with leading Jewish voices, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, calling out anti-Israel “virulent hate” protests at his alma mater Columbia University.

Emerson’s new president, Jay Bernhardt, wrote Wednesday that the college supports “our community’s right to express their views through protest. However, they must do so in a manner consistent with the laws of the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” That statement was co-signed by the college leadership team.

Emerson Students for Justice in Palestine, an organizer, made a post on Instagram during the altercation, stating “URGENT SUPPORT NEEDED @ EMERSON ASAP POLICE ARE CLOSING IN, BODIES NEEDED.”

“They keep playing games and trying to intimidate students,” the group added. “We need community support ASAP for the rest of the night. NOW NOW NOW!”

In an interview with the Berkeley Beacon, Emerson SJP organizer Amrita Bala highlighted how she was released from a police precinct in Hyde Park early Thursday morning after being arrested.

“It was horrifying,” Bala said. “They just started ripping us from the crowd, throwing us down on the ground.”

The college made counseling and support resources available to community members seeking support on campus Thursday afternoon, Bernhardt wrote in an update. Staff and administrators were on scene during the altercation, and officials appeared at court and police precincts with students, he added.

“Emerson College recognizes and respects the civic activism and passion that sparked the protest in Boylston Place Alley in support of Palestine while also holding and communicating concerns related to the numerous ordinance violations caused by their encampment,” Bernardt wrote. “We also understand that clearing the encampment has significantly and adversely impacted our community.”

Around 20 protestors showed up to express solidarity with the students at Cambridge City Hall later Thursday afternoon, watched by six visible uniformed police officers standing at the entrance of the building.

Munira Fleyfel, a Cambridge public school teacher, said that she’s proud to stand in solidarity with the students as an Arab Muslim who’s “always held the Palestinian cause close to her heart” and her daughter at UCLA is also participating on her campus.

“In my opinion, and my understanding, student protests have never been wrong,” Fleyfel said, waving the Palestinian flag outside the City Hall. … “It’s sad that not many people are here, but I’m hoping that more and more will become more aware, despite the fact that this has been going on for the past six months, and feel the courage to come and stand with what the students are doing.”

Protestors said there are plans to continue to support students protesting and speak up for them.

“I’m Jewish, and I want more of my Jewish community to see there are really roads to peace and that there’s a lot of misinformation going on,” said a young protestor Jake, noting the backlash he’s faced from Jewish and Israeli friends and family. “I just really, really hope that other Jews and other people who are getting misinformation streams can see a little bit more empathy and understand why people are protesting for Gaza.”

Encampments have also been set up at MIT, Harvard, Tufts University, and Northeastern, with protesters calling out Israel’s invasion of Gaza and the civilian casualties, while hostages taken by Hamas terrorists are still being held.

_____

(Grace Zokovitch and Gayla Cawley contributed.)

_____

©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at bostonherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.