Texas Gov. Abbott says pro-Palestinian protesters at UT 'belong in jail': See reactions

Ryan Maxin, Austin American-Statesman
Updated ·6 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Dozens of University of Texas at Austin students walked out of class and took to campus Wednesday to protest the war in Gaza, leading to several arrests and a sustained police presence.

Videos posted to social media show students gathering to hold signs and wave Palestinian flags. The majority of protestors appeared to favor Palestinians, with several chants calling for Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza.

In one video, crowds facing police on horseback chanted, "The people united will never be divided." Another video shows arrested protestors being loaded into a police van while still chanting, "Free Palestine."

How Texas elected officials responded: 'Protesters belong in jail'

The protests and arrests on UT-Austin's campus Wednesday caught the attention of several of the state's most powerful politicians.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded to a video of the protest shared on X, stating, "arrests are being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses ... Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled."

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the protest "delusional" and said, "We have big problems on our college campuses."

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa

Gina Hinojosa, the state representative for House District 49, posted to her X account that student arrests without the threat of violence is "out of hand."

Austin City Councilmember Venessa Fuentes

Austin City Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes also took to the platform in support of the protestors and called on the university to "do better."

"Suppressing peaceful protest with intimidation is a needless escalation," she wrote. "We deserve an explanation for why such extreme actions are being taken to suppress the voices of seemingly peaceful protestors."

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX

Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz did not share the sentiments of Hinojosa and Fuentes, referring to the protest as "antisemitic."

"No Jewish student should ever have their safety threatened. I’m glad that UT Police & Texas DPS are responding to this situation with the seriousness it deserves," he wrote.

Austin City Councilmember Mackenzie Kelly

District 6 Councilmember Mackenzie Kelly appeared to join Cruz's calls in a statement posted to X. "Every student at UT deserves to feel safe. And while I strongly support the First Amendment, protests that seek to scare, threaten, and intimidate Jewish Austinites solely on the basis of their religious ethnicity is abhorrent," she wrote. "I want to thank UT PD, APD, and DPS for securing the campus for all students and UT employees.”

Mixed reactions to pro-Palestinian protest at University of Texas at Austin campus

Reactions on X, which has faced backlash in recent months for its alleged tolerance of hate speech on the platform, were mixed.

One X user, @YonahLieberman, posted, "This is how Texas is trying to shut down student protests for Palestinian rights at University of Texas - Austin. If this happened in Russia to stop pro-Ukraine protests, Biden and Democratic leadership would be on TV condemning it and sanctioning the state." The post was a response to a video of police in riot gear marching toward students, who can be heard chanting in the background.

"State troopers attack an anti-genocide protest at the University of Texas. This is the 'land of the free,'" wrote X user @s_m_marandi. They also posted a video of police officers walking through a crowd, at times touching protestors to move them from their paths.

Several X users criticized the protests, calling them "dangerous" and referring to them as left-wing propaganda.

"Bring the dogs in and put a stop to it," posted X user @RussellJustic17.

@StevenHasty1 posted on X, "This is getting out of hand. Intentionally. Remember this is what the protestors want."

American-Statesman higher education reporter Lily Kepner posted videos from UT-Austin's campus Wednesday afternoon showing large crowds of protestors and police. She said she personally witnessed several student arrests.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Pro-Palestinian protest at UT-Austin campus draws mixed reactions