The Brief

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators continue to turn out at schools across the country despite the risk of detention and suspension, with nearly 300 more protesters arrested over the weekend.

At Columbia University, where a pro-Palestinian encampment has catalyzed dozens of similar demonstrations across the nation, student protesters face threats of punishment, including suspension.

On Monday morning, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik announced that negotiations between faculty leaders and student organizers over the encampment were not able to reach an agreement and urged demonstrators to voluntarily disperse.

The university gave students until 2 p.m. ET to disperse and abandon the encampments or else face suspension pending further investigation, according to flyers it distributed on campus.

Students who voluntarily leave and sign a copy of a form committing to abide by university policies will be on academic probation through June 2025, according to the flyers. Those who remain past the deadline will be restricted from all Columbia campuses and property and ineligible to participate in classes and academic or extracurricular activities.

"You are not permitted to complete the Spring 2024 semester, including participate in classes or exams in-person or remotely or otherwise submit assignments or engage in any activities affiliated with Columbia University," the notice reads. "You may lose the semester. If you are scheduled to graduate, you are no longer eligible."

Dozens of New York police officers could be seen gathering outside the campus gates about an hour ahead of the deadline.

Many students remained despite the threats, saying they have no plans to leave unless the university meets its demand to divest from companies they say are aiding Israel's war in Gaza. After the flyers were distributed, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine posted on X urging students not to sign anything.

Roughly 100 officers in uniform gathered at Columbia University's campus in the leadup to its 2 p.m. deadline for students to disperse from the encampment that's been up for nearly two weeks.

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"We will not be moved by these intimidation tactics. You can see the students are mobilized. There's hundreds of them here today. They will not be moved. We demand divestment, we will not be moved unless by force," Seuda Polat, a Columbia University graduate student, said during a press conference Monday.

Polat continued, "There has been no violence on this encampment. Students from diverse backgrounds have shared their religious observances together. We've celebrated Passover, we've celebrated shabbat twice. This is a place of community, of community learning, not violence."

Police continue to arrest protesters across the country

On Sunday, pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israeli protesters clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, leading to what university leaders described as "physical altercations" and prompting them to increase security measures on campus.

At Virginia Tech University, police arrested scores of protesters in the early hours of Monday morning. Virginia Tech Police confirmed later that day that 91 people, including 54 current students, were arrested and charged with trespassing.

The school had warned of "heavy police activity around the Graduate Life Center" in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) starting just after 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, and announced around 3:30 a.m. that the incident "had stabilized." Social media footage shows protesters chanting at police as they lead people into multiple white vans.

Elsewhere in the state, 12 protesters — including nine students — were arrested at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday evening after refusing to vacate an encampment on its Fredericksburg, Va., campus. University President Troy Paino said in a statement that health and safety concerns had emerged on Saturday after protestors invited the off-campus public to join the encampment.

A man holds up a Palestinian flag as activists and students surround piled barricades at an encampment at at George Washington University early Monday.

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Meanwhile, protests at George Washington University in D.C. are stretching into their fifth day on Monday — the last day of class for the semester — after a tense weekend, culminating in a clash between protesters and police.

Students first set up an encampment on University Yard on Thursday and later launched a second one on nearby H Street after the school put up barricades to restrict access.

Shortly before midnight on Sunday, protesters knocked down the barricades — piling them in a stack in the middle of the lawn — and flooded the lawn, with people remaining there overnight in some 85 tents, the GW Hatchet reports.

GW officials said in a statement early Monday that a group of "approximately 200 protesters from across [D.C., Maryland and Virginia], including professional organizers, activists, and university students, have joined the unauthorized encampment on our campus."

"This is an egregious violation of community trust and goes far beyond the boundaries of free expression and the right to protest," they added. "The university will use every avenue available to ensure those involved are held accountable for their actions."

Schools are alternately threatening and disavowing disciplinary action

Students arrested at Emerson College last week won't face disciplinary action from the school, its president announced.

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One question on the minds of many is what, if any, disciplinary action student protesters might face from their schools, especially with finals and graduation fast approaching.

Some universities have suspended — or threatened to suspend — students who have been arrested for protesting, while others have said they will not.

Students have been suspended for protesting at George Washington University, Princeton University, Washington University in St. Louis, Pomona College and Vanderbilt University, according to reports.

Barnard College officials announced Friday that it will allow most of the 53 students who were arrested and suspended after protesting at Columbia University to return to campus. The New York Times reports that suspended students who reached agreements with the college have their access to residence halls, dining facilities and classrooms restored, while others are still working to reach agreements.

On Sunday, Jay Bernhardt, the president of Emerson College in Boston — where more than 100 protesters were arrested at an encampment early Thursday morning — said the college will not bring disciplinary charges against protesters, and will "encourage the district attorney not to pursue charges related to encampment violations."

He said it is also taking steps to support students who were arrested, including posting bail for them and providing housing support to those who are required to stay local for court appearances after the closing of their dorms.

"The College has done its best to keep all community members safe every day during these challenging times, but we recognize that we must do more," he added.

In Texas, the Travis County district attorney has dropped misdemeanor trespassing charges against all 57 people arrested during a protest at UT-Austin last week, after a judge found insufficient evidence to proceed.

But on Monday, around 100 protesters gathered at UT-Austin and set up a new encampment on the campus' south lawn, according to NPR member station KUT. By mid-afternoon, state, city and university police were on hand, breaking up the gathering.

Elsewhere, some schools are threatening disciplinary action for students who don't comply with directives to leave encampments that they say violate their policies.

Officials at the University of Florida, where students began protesting on Wednesday, said Friday that demonstrators could face suspension and a three-year ban from campus if they violate specific protest rules, reports member station WUFT.

They are prohibited from using bullhorns or speakers to amplify their voices, possessing weapons and protesting inside campus buildings — but also face more vague prohibitions like "no disruption," according to a list circulated late Thursday.

"They also included 'no sleeping' on a campus where students often doze in the sun between classes," per WUFT.

At Cal Poly Humboldt, officials closed campus to the public on Saturday, several days after student protesters first occupied two academic and administrative buildings. They had previously given protesters until 5 p.m. on Friday to leave with a guarantee of no immediate arrest — but said they would still face consequences.

"This does not, however, eliminate University conduct-related sanctions or legal implications," officials said in a release. "In addition, voluntarily departing in this way will be considered as a mitigating factor in University conduct processes and may reduce the severity of sanctions imposed."

The campus will remain closed until May 10, with work and classes remote through the end of the semester. Officials say they are planning for "various scenarios" for commencement.

At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, president Sally Kornbluth said in a Sunday message to students that their growing encampment violates policies around registering for campus demonstrations and creates a "potential magnet for disruptive outside protestors."

She said rules have been broken, and those who break them — "including rules around the time, place and manner of protest" — will face disciplinary action.

"We are open to further discussion about the means of ending the encampment," she added. "But this particular form of expression needs to end soon."

Some faculty are calling for amnesty

Students and faculty at some universities are calling on their administrations not to discipline protesters. Arrested protesters face uncertainty about not only their legal records but the status of campus housing, financial aid and graduation eligibility.

At the University of Pennsylvania, officials say a campus statue was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti and are calling on demonstrators — from Penn and other area schools — to disband.

A group of Penn faculty and Philadelphia-area elected officials signed a letter last week urging university leaders to "respect students' rights to engage in nonviolent protest" by refraining from calling in law enforcement to make arrests and from filing disciplinary and criminal charges against peaceful protesters at the encampment.

"Protesters nationwide face police violence and severe discipline, and the safety and wellbeing of Philadelphia students exercising their rights are among our foremost concerns," they wrote.

Nearly 300 faculty members at Yale University, where 48 protesters were arrested last week, signed a letter condemning what they called "the criminalization of Yale students engaged in recent acts of peaceful protest." They demanded that the university take no further disciplinary action and called on authorities to drop all charges against them.

They said the protesters arrested face Class A misdemeanors under Connecticut law, which carry possible penalties of up to 364 days in jail.

"Threatening students with sanctions of this kind is unconscionable and should not be the means by which Yale responds to peaceful protest," they added.

In a further sign of discontent, faculty members at universities in California, Georgia and Texas have either initiated or passed largely symbolic votes of no confidence in their leadership, according to the Associated Press.

On Tuesday, street safety advocates and families of victims of vehicle collisions demanded that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declare a state of emergency on traffic violence in the city.

Sandra Sanchez Loulakis’s son died last year after she said he was hit by a negligent driver.

“I’ve been struggling just to survive daily,” she said at the news conference organized by traffic safety nonprofit Streets are for Everyone. “This is what happens to a parent when they lose a child.”

The city has seen 8% more fatal traffic collisions this year than during the same period last year, according to LAPD data from the end of August.

Advocates said an emergency declaration would better coordinate resources to respond to traffic fatalities, which have exceeded the rate of homicides for the last three years.

“ This is not a matter of we don't know what to do,” Damian Kevitt, who leads Streets are for Everyone, said Tuesday. “This is a matter of we know exactly what to do. We’re just not making this a priority as a city.”

Kevitt said more than 1,250 people signed an open letter delivered to the mayor and L.A. City Council. One of the demands listed in the letter is for the city to restore transportation department staff.

Earlier this year, the city gave up $100 million in state grants to make streets safer because it did not have the personnel to complete the projects in compliance with state-mandated deadlines.

Draft executive directive on Vision Zero

It appears there had been momentum from the mayor’s office earlier this year to issue an executive directive recommitting the city to its Vision Zero goals of reducing traffic fatalities to zero.

According to emails from May shared with LAist, the mayor’s senior director of transportation told an activist that a draft executive directive was “under review” and expected to be released “within the next three weeks.”

The email was sent to Jonathan Hale, who organizes community members to paint crosswalks where there have been pedestrian-involved collisions.

The executive directive has yet to be released.

LAist submitted a public records request for drafts of the executive directive, but on Sept. 14, the mayor’s office responded saying it could not disclose any records.

“[The records] include drafts and/or deliberative process for which the public interest served in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public interest served by the disclosure,” the office said.

The mayor’s office has not responded to requests for comment about the draft executive directive.

A new report commissioned by Olympics organizers estimates that the 2028 Games will generate at least $20 billion in economic output across Greater Los Angeles.

The analysis, prepared for LA28 by the nonprofit Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s Institute for Applied Economics, looked at the economic effects of L.A. hosting the Olympics and Paralympics. It includes organizing committee spending, capital investments, publicly funded transportation and security investments, and tourism. 

In total, the report projects that new economic activity across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties could total somewhere between $20.5 billion and $25.4 billion and add around 126,000 and 152,000 jobs to the economy.

A second less conservative methodology employed by the researchers estimates the overall economic output could be even higher, between $35.4 and $40.6 billion and up to 224,000 new jobs.

“ Together, they provide a responsible range, not an exaggerated promise,” Stephen Cheung, CEO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, said at a news conference announcing the report on Tuesday. “ If we work together with intention, the Games can leave Los Angeles with more than unforgettable memories. They can leave us with stronger businesses, greater opportunities, and a more connected regional economy.”

Despite the 2028 Games being advertised as a "no-build" Olympics, the biggest chunk of spending laid out in the report is on capital projects, including the $2.6 billion L.A. Convention Center renovation, billions in LAX improvements, major transit projects like Metro ExpressLanes on the 105 Freeway, and venue renovations, such as upgrades to Rose Bowl Stadium.

The report also estimates that around $5.7 billion of LA28’s spending will be in the five county region. LA28 has a $7.1 billion budget and has pledged to keep 75% of its spending in the Greater L.A. area, and put 25% toward small businesses.

“ That economic impact is going to be felt far and wide and across Los Angeles, as well as the Southern California region,” LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said Tuesday.

The report is the second economic analysis forecasting the effects of the 2028 Games to come out this month. A separate report submitted to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in early September estimated that the Games would produce more than $13 billion in direct spending and a total economic output of $19.2 billion in Los Angeles County alone.

The same report also laid out the potential uneven distribution of economic benefits to the region, including limited benefits for Olympic venue sites that are not tourist destinations and parts of Los Angeles being excluded from the Games altogether.

HR&A Advisors, the consultant group that put the report together, identified Carson, Pomona, the City of Industry and Exposition Park as locations that are hosting Olympic events, but that could end up being “passthrough areas.”

“Although these areas may be active during the day, they may struggle to capture spending from visitors who pass through but do not spend money outside the venue,” the report states.

The county report also questioned what economic benefits will flow to parts of L.A. County that will be disconnected from Olympic and Paralympic activities, like Antelope Valley and Southeast Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, the analysis found that L.A.’s typical tourist destinations — including downtown L.A., Old Town Pasadena, downtown Long Beach and the Venice Boardwalk — can expect to be active areas for economic activity during summer 2028.

The Palisades and Eaton Fires last year destroyed thousands of homes in Los Angeles County. Thousands more were left standing, but choked with toxic fire residue.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills that will make California the first state in the nation to establish smoke damage testing and cleaning standards for insurance companies.

Assembly Bills 1642 and 1795 will require insurers to test for smoke damage, cover the cost of cleaning contaminants, and keep paying for a homeowner’s alternative living expenses until the home is found safe to reoccupy.

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control will have until the end of 2028 to develop testing and cleaning standards for lead and asbestos, and until the end of 2029 to set rules for heavy metals and other pollutants.

Reaction to the bill

According to the state Department of Insurance, property owners filed 13,000 smoke damage claims for standing homes after the January 2025 fires. While insurers have covered testing and cleaning in many cases, other homeowners are still unable to return home as they battle with insurance companies over addressing smoke damage.

In a news release Tuesday, the governor and an author of one of the bills praised the changes to state law.

“These new protections will make insurer obligations clearer and give homeowners more financial flexibility when they need it most,” Newsom said.

Assemblymember John Harabedian said: “Science, not an insurance company’s opinions, will determine whether a home is safe.”

Insurance industry groups had opposed shifting rules and regulation away from the state Department of Insurance and to the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Altadena residents pushed for change

Testing efforts by a group known as Eaton Fire Residents United found that lead, asbestos and heavy metals were still present in homes even after they were cleaned by professional remediation companies. Jane Lawton Potelle is the group’s executive director.

“California is leading the nation in how to recover safely after an urban wildfire,” she said in a news release about the laws’ passage.

Public health officials said smoke from the L.A. County fires was particularly toxic because it emanated from urban areas. The structures that burned often had lead paint and asbestos insulation.

The fires also destroyed cars, appliances and other human-made materials. This created more pollutants than smoke from fires in rural areas, which mainly burn through vegetation.

LAist covered the push to change smoke damage policies in a recent episode of our podcast Imperfect Paradise, which breaks down what these changes could mean for insurers, homeowners and how California adapts to climate change.

For years, California lawmakers and transit leaders have requested billions of dollars from the federal government to temporarily double L.A.’s bus fleet and support public transportation for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics.

Those calls have grown increasingly desperate in recent months, with Los Angeles Metro saying time is running out to execute its plans.

Now, the transportation agency says that if it doesn’t get a guarantee that the money is secured by the end of the year, it won’t provide the extra buses. Instead, it would leave private Olympics organizing committee LA28 to come up with a new plan.

Metro staff laid out the timeline in a report submitted to the agency’s board that will be reviewed at a special meeting Wednesday.

“Transportation capacity cannot be procured overnight,” Metro wrote in a statement to LAist.

A looming funding deadline

If federal funds don’t materialize in time, LA28 could be left with a major logistical and financial challenge.

Metro, the countywide transportation agency, has thus far led planning for the enhanced bus service, which was seen as the cornerstone of the region’s strategy to get people around Los Angeles during the summer of 2028.

The board report outlines that Metro has, as of May, secured commitments from 28 transit agencies to loan or donate over 1,000 buses and more than 300 personnel to support the enhanced bus service.

In total, Metro has said it needs $2 billion from the federal government for the Games. Approximately half that appropriations request would be used to obtain, operate and maintain 1,750 buses — on top of its existing fleet — for the Olympics network.

Metro said that any additional buses it provides will depend on the amount of money it locks down. The agency told LAist that it needs to make decisions based on concrete funding well before the Games in order to secure the buses, operators and facilities.

LA28 also does not appear to be ready to pay for a temporary bus system, should federal funding never arrive. Its $7.1 billion budget does not include a line item for transit.

This in turn puts the city of L.A. at risk because Los Angeles is the financial backstop for the Games. L.A. and the state of California will cover cost overruns from the Olympics and Paralympics, should they occur.

LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover told LAist on Tuesday that he was not alarmed about Metro's impending deadline.

"[Metro CEO] Stephanie Wiggins and I are working really close together to work with the administration to find the funding," Hoover said. "I'm pretty confident that the administration and the Congress will find funding that Metro needs."

When asked if the Olympics could be put on without a supplementary bus system, Hoover told LAist that a bus program for the Olympics would be a part of the Games "one way or another in some scale or form."

What did Metro and LA28 agree to?

Metro can exit its role orchestrating the Olympics bus system according to a memorandum of understanding with LA28 outlining the parties’ obligations for the 2028 Games.

According to the agreement, approved by Metro’s board in March, Metro is not required to provide additional services beyond its status quo if it doesn’t secure supplementary funding for its enhanced bus service.

The September board report that will be the subject of Wednesday’s meeting outlines that without “funding certainty,” its agreement with LA28 will expire.

“The organizing committee will need to seek another delivery partner for spectator and workforce transportation,” the agency wrote in the board report.

This summer, lawmakers included $875 million for Olympics-related transportation needs in a spending bill that still needs to move through the appropriations process. According to the Metro report, that funding would be covered by rescinding money for passenger rail projects in other parts of the country, meaning it has an uphill battle passing through the legislature.

Jacie Prieto Lopez, an LA28 spokesperson, said in an emailed statement that Olympics organizers were working with Metro to “jointly engage key partners on Capitol Hill and the White House as appropriations and budget decisions are made.”