WATCH: Crowd Cheers Wildly As Police Remove Anti-Israel Protesters Disrupting Michigan Graduation Ceremony
The crowd wildly cheered as police removed pro-Palestine protesters for disrupting the University of Michigan commencement ceremony on Saturday.
According to the Associated Press, arrests have not been made and the protesters were seen wearing keffiyehs along with their mortarboards. The ceremony in Ann Arbor at Michigan Stadium was attended by tens of thousands of people.
One commencement speaker, U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, tried to ignore the chants of the protesters by telling the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you can please draw your attention back to the podium.”
Footage of the pro-Palestinian protesters wearing symbols of Palestinian nationalism went viral online following the ceremony.
“Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” the protesters chanted. “Regents, regents, you can’t hide! You are funding genocide!”
One crowd member could reportedly be heard shouting back at the protesters, “You’re ruining our graduation!”
Watch the incidents below:
The America-hating anti-Israel protesters are trying to disrupt graduation day at University of Michigan
🇺🇸🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/LEctqflnYJ
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 4, 2024
Palestinian protesters at University of Michigan graduation pic.twitter.com/oq5my9c9Bz
— Henry L. Racicot (@HLRacicot) May 4, 2024
🇺🇸Protesters disrupted the graduation ceremony at University of Michigan. #universityprotests #Michigan #StudentProtests pic.twitter.com/JbeYX2NnlF
— Attentive Media (@AttentiveCEE) May 4, 2024
Meanwhile, a plane reportedly flew over the ceremony with a banner that read “Free Palestine” and “divest from Israel now.” However, pro-Israel supporters countered the message by flying a separate plane with a message that read, “We stand with Israel. Jewish lives matter.”
The university told The New York Times following that the school had trained volunteers who know how to “manage disruptions” ready to assist at the ceremony.
The interruption comes as the country faces nationwide college protests from pro-Palestine demonstrators over the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza region. Democrats and Republicans, including President Joe Biden, have denounced the protesters over “anti-Semitic” chants.
Watch the clips above via Twitter and Forbes on YouTube.
