Students must have the right to free speech but "violent protest is not protected" under the law, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, as university campuses from New York to Los Angeles were gripped by unrest over Israel's war in Gaza.
"We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent. The American people are heard," Biden said at the White House.
"In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country. We are a civil society and order must prevail," Biden added.
Speaking just hours after police dismantled a protest camp at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Biden said that violence, vandalism, trespassing, shutting down campuses and breaking windows do not constitute peaceful protests.
"Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest, it is against the law."
He continued: "There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students."
Protests against Israel's military actions in Gaza war and in favour of solidarity with the Palestinians have been boiling over at various campuses, leading to police action at Columbia University, City College of New York, UCLA, the University of Texas at Austin and several other well-known academic institutions.
The protests have centred around demands for universities and companies to cut financial ties with Israel. The protests have taken dark turns at times, including individuals making anti-Semitic and other inflammatory remarks, and participants trashing the campus.
While some Jewish students are taking part in these protests, others feel threatened and are staying away.
The demonstrations - a hot-button national political issue in an already tumultuous election year - are pitting free speech against student safety concerns.
There have been major police operations in recent days to clear pro-Palestinian protest encampments, including at a building occupied by students at Columbia University in New York.
According to tallies by US media, well over 1,000 demonstrators have been arrested across the country in the past two weeks for crimes such as trespassing, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and assault.
Late Wednesday, the police took action against a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles after the authorities had categorized it as an "unlawful assembly."
Demonstrators and police engaged in an hours-long standoff before officers moved in to clear the premises and tear down barricades that had been erected. There were reportedly over 100 arrests.
Violence had already broken out the previous night when supporters of Israel clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters.
There were police operations at other US universities.
At Dartmouth College in the state of New Hampshire, 90 people were arrested on Wednesday evening, according to the local police. They were charged with trespassing and resisting law enforcement after tents were erected on the grounds without authorization.
Only some of those arrested were actually Dartmouth students or teachers, police said. Like in New York and Los Angeles and elsewhere, people from outside the academic institutions have been drawn into the protests, complicating the situation for both campus leaders and law enforcement.
In Dallas, police took at least 20 people into custody during the clearing of a protest camp on the grounds of the University of Texas, local broadcaster Fox4 reported.
Stony Brook University in New York also reported that a demonstration on its campus, which had initially begun peacefully, turn chaotic.
Tents had been erected and other students had been intimidated and harassed, it said. As a result, 29 protesters were arrested, including students and staff as well as non-members of the university.
