It became clear very quickly colleges all over the United States did not know how to deal with the encampments set up by students and nonstudents, which were started to protest their schools' ties to Israel. When Columbia University, the first to experience the trend this year, allowed the New York City police to clear and arrest those who refuse to leave, it sparked the wave that has lasted over a month.

The outcry from the far-left online and in the media stunned Columbia and other campuses into inaction. Similar to how Democrats were reluctant to use force to put down the BLM and Antifa riots in 2020, lest they be called racists, leadership at colleges did not want to be seen as harshly cracking down on their "students."

This led to the encampment at Columbia returning in force and schools from Portland to Los Angeles to Chicago trying to negotiate with the occupiers. It was a trend that lasted for weeks.

But there was a tipping point, again at Columbia and the University of California, Los Angeles. Like some other colleges on the West Coast, the violent takeover of Hamilton Hall and the four-hour riot at UCLA showed the nation what happens when the encampments become too entrenched with a hands-off approach: The far-left elements within the camps use the lack of authority to advance their violent agenda.

Much like how the camps started at Columbia, colleges finding a backbone to expel the occupiers began at Columbia, with NYPD clearing out the occupiers at Hamilton Hall. UCLA had three major law enforcement agencies on hand to remove the camp at Royce Hall. One by one, colleges allowed police to remove lawbreakers so their students can have a normal working environment once again.

While many encampments had been cleared, one in Washington, D.C., stuck out for a stark reason. The president at George Washington University pleaded with the mayor and police chief to use the Metropolitan Police Department to remove the occupiers shortly after the camp was started, but city leadership refused, for the aforementioned reason.

With the city's blessing, the camp expanded from the plaza to the road. The occupiers stated their intention of staying past the last week of school.

It seemingly had to take the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to drag D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and police Chief Pamela Smith to a congressional hearing to get them to act. In the morning of May 8, the camp and occupiers at GWU were finally removed.

"Don't let things calm down. Escalate for Gaza!"

At a press conference, Smith said the congressional hearing had no impact on the decision to move on the camp, only that her decision was based on public safety. D.C. police said there had been mounting evidence some of the protesters were going to take over a building next.

Only states with Republican leadership — such as Virginia and Florida — have had success of clamping down on the criminal activity before it got out of hand.

But do not think the groups behind the occupations have admitted defeat on this tactic. Some colleges still have camps, such as California State University, Los Angeles.

"Creating mass public encounters favorable to unruly crowd dynamics. This is what the encampments on university campuses have made possible. If that window is closing in some locations, we need to create other ways of doing this because the siege of Gaza has not ended," Escalate Network posted on X.

"Don't let things calm down. Escalate for Gaza!" echoed People's Council — Los Angeles

"NAKBA DAY: ALL OUT FOR GAZA. From the encampments to the streets!" Within Our Lifetime advertised for May 15.