State leaders react to UT Austin campus protests

Protests on the University of Texas at Austin campus continued Monday, leading to 79 arrests and law enforcement response from local and state agencies.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Protests on the University of Texas at Austin campus continued Monday, leading to 79 arrests and law enforcement response from local and state agencies.

Last week, a pro-Palestinian protest at UT led to 57 arrests with charges ultimately dropped due to not having "sufficient probable cause." The UT protests echoed a nationwide trend of college campus protests.

After these protests, many state leaders shared their reactions to the protests on social media.

Gov. Greg Abbott said on his social media Monday "No encampments will be allowed. Instead, arrests are being made." This was in response to a post showing Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arriving at the UT campus Monday afternoon.

Ali Zaidi, the executive director of the House Democratic Caucus, wrote a letter to all caucus members Monday saying the protest "showed a rate of escalation and aggravated response that rose to a point that merited alerting the caucus."

"It is our belief that this behavior by law enforcement created further chaos and harm to the health and well-being of students which must not go unaddressed.," the letter said in part.

A group of Republican House members released a letter Tuesday voicing support for Israel, saying "Israel has a fundamental right to defend itself and should use any and all means
necessary to destroy terrorism."

"We reject terrorism in any form," said the letter signed by 34 members. "We reject physical and mental intimidation and all evil iterations of such, including within our own borders of Texas and on our university campuses."

State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt told KXAN on Monday she was trying to coordinate with UTPD and de-escalate. Last week, Eckhardt said Texas' highest public offices "are demanding that students' voices be stifled - with force if necessary."