Around 8 a.m. April 25, 2024, a group of approximately 30 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Centennial Common. They caught the attention of commuters and students on their way to finals as they rotated through various chants.
Soon, more protesters streamed in, donning keffiyehs and masks and hauling tents and food to last for days. They were inspired by similar student protests nationwide, including at Columbia University, where students occupied the lawn of their university for two weeks before more than 100 people were arrested.
What came next at Northeastern was a 48-hour protest that would draw nationwide media attention, heighten tension between activist groups on campus and create seismic change in university demonstration policies.
A year later, the Trump administration has claimed pro-Palestinian protests like encampments are proof that antisemitism is festering on college campuses, threatening and, in some cases, already cutting funding to schools his administration says are not doing enough to protect Jewish students. The federal government has also detained pro-Palestinian student protesters who are not U.S. citizens, including Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who served as a negotiator between students and the school’s administration during the university’s encampment.
Northeastern’s encampment came after an already tense year on campus following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war; some Jewish students expressed concern that the language used during pro-Palestinian protests — such as “from the river to the sea” and “globalize the intifada” — was antisemitic. As campus activists sought to disrupt business as usual at the university, which sometimes meant organizing unauthorized demonstrations, Northeastern disciplined students who were involved. Protesters demanded Northeastern cut ties with companies that supply military weapons to Israel, as well as disclose university investments.
In a statement on the first morning of the encampment, Northeastern Vice President for Communications Renata Nyul told The Huntington News that the students protesting were in violation of the university’s Code of Student Conduct, as events held on university property must be approved by the Center for Student Involvement.
But soon, more support came from professors, protesters not affiliated with Northeastern and local politicians. By midday, several tents had been erected on Centennial, and tensions grew as protesters declined to show police their Husky IDs. At 1:50 p.m., NUPD had made its first arrest of the encampment inside Ryder Hall; the individual was previously a student at Northeastern.
By 2:30 p.m., Boston Police Department, or BPD, officers arrived in riot gear but retreated shortly thereafter, leaving only Northeastern University Police Department, or NUPD, officers to monitor the protest.
On the evening of the first day, protesters ate, prayed and listened to music together. Around 7:45 p.m., a group of the protesters engaged in a student-led Seder to celebrate the fourth night of Passover — a Jewish holiday commemorating the liberation of Hebrews from slavery in ancient Egypt. Students settled in for the night after chalking the names of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces on Centennial Common and practicing drills in anticipation of an overnight police sweep.
On April 26, protesters began the second day of the encampment by eating breakfast as police, including Massachusetts State Police officers, watched. Some students with Israeli flags visited Centennial to observe the encampment from afar.
By 5:45 p.m., the surrounding buildings, which protesters had been entering to use restrooms, were locked by NUPD. A little over an hour later, power to Centennial was shut off, eliminating various charging stations protesters had set up to power devices.
By 8:30 p.m., rumors of an early-morning police sweep were circulating. Tensions reached a high point when, at about 10:30 p.m., two pro-Israel counter-protesters stood on the lawn chairs encircling the encampment. They held a large Israeli flag and yelled responses to pro-Palestinian protesters’ chants.
During the standoff, one of the pro-Israel protesters yelled “Kill the Jews,” which The Boston Globe and The News reported on without attribution, as it was unclear who had said it at the time. The next morning, video footage of the incident posted to X revealed a counter-protester holding an Israeli flag had said the phrase.
At around 5:30 a.m. April 27, approximately 40 police officers, including BPD, NUPD and State Police, surrounded Centennial Common and instructed protesters to move off the quad.
They began removing the makeshift barricades that protesters had set up using Adirondack chairs, wooden pallets and water bottle cases.
At 7 a.m., around 48 hours after the first protesters had gathered, mass arrests began. Officers processed detainees in Shillman Hall before putting them in police vans to transfer them to Nashua Street Jail.
Some protesters who had not been arrested formed a human chain to block the vans from leaving campus, prompting officers to take an alternate route.
In a statement to The News that morning, the university justified arrests by saying demonstrators were not Northeastern students and that the previous night’s “Kill the Jews” remark “crossed the line.” When asked about the video footage showing the remark came from a counter-protester, Nyul told The News that the “fact that the phrase ‘Kill the Jews’ was shouted on our campus is not in dispute” and cited The Globe’s reporting. On April 28, The News issued a letter from the editor apologizing for the publication of Nyul’s statement without contextualizing who had said “Kill the Jews.”
In total, 98 people were arrested — at the encampment, including 29 Northeastern students and six Northeastern faculty and staff. Though legal charges were dismissed, the repercussions spanned months as arrested students attended court arraignments and faced disciplinary charges from the university.
A team of journalists, photographers and editors from The News reported on the encampment throughout its duration. Below is a look back at some of the moments captured on camera.
