“Order must prevail,” President Joe Biden urged on Thursday Pro-Palestinian protests rock college campuses Emphasizing that violent protests in the country are not protected under the law.
Breaking his silence on the issue after the arrests of students and other protesters at Columbia University, the University of California, Los Angeles and elsewhere, Biden emphasized that “peaceful protest is the best tradition of how Americans respond to subsequent issues” and that the United States is not a “lawless country.”
“Violent protests are not protected – they are peaceful protests,” said the president, “When violence occurs, it is against the law.” Destruction of property is not a peaceful protest.
Biden also said that anti-Semitism, threats of violence against Jewish students, hate speech or violence of any kind have no place on any campus.
“Whether it’s anti-Semitism or Islamophobia or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans, it’s just wrong,” he said. “There is no place for racism in America. It’s all wrong, it’s un-American.”
“I understand that people have strong feelings and deeply held beliefs. In America, we respect and protect their right to express that, but that doesn’t mean anything. It has to be done without violence, without distraction, without hate, and within the law.” .
In response to a shouting question from a reporter who asked if the protests on the college campus had caused him to reconsider any of Israel’s policies regarding the conflict with Hamas in Gaza, Biden replied, “No.”
The president also said no to a separate question asking whether the National Guard should intervene in campus protests.