Campus Alert Archive
Northeastern

An Antisemitic Slur, a Pre-Dawn Sweep, and 98 Arrests: Northeastern Cleared Centennial Common in 90 Minutes

MAcivil unrestadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday April 27, 2024, Northeastern University Police, Boston Police, and Massachusetts State Police surrounded a Gaza solidarity encampment that had been on Centennial Common for 48 hours and began clearing it at approximately 5:30 AM EDT. Northeastern justified the sweep by citing alleged antisemitic chants the night before, including 'Kill the Jews' — a phrase video later showed was uttered by a pro-Israel counter-protester, not by the encampment participants themselves. Police arrested 98 people including 29 students and six faculty/staff; non-affiliates were charged, while those who showed valid Northeastern IDs were released to face university discipline.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Northeastern University
Private R1 · MA
~30,013 studentsNortheastern Alerts
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Verified verbatimNortheastern University official statement quoted in The Huntington News, posted approximately 8:00 AM EDT on April 27, 2024205 chars
Earlier this morning the Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) — in cooperation with local law enforcement partners — began clearing an unauthorized encampment on the university's Boston campus.
Northeastern issued this statement after the clearance was complete; no real-time push notification was sent during the operation
Centennial Common is on the Boston campus, surrounded by Curry Student Center, Snell Library, and the academic quad
The clearance began at approximately 5:30 AM EDT and arrests were largely complete by 7:00 AM EDT, an approximately 90-minute pre-dawn operation
FOLLOW-UPEmail+3 h
Verified verbatimStatement from Northeastern spokeswoman Renata Nyul as reported by WBUR on April 27, 2024227 chars
What began as a student demonstration two days ago, was infiltrated by professional organizers with no affiliation to Northeastern. Last night, the use of virulent antisemitic slurs, including 'Kill the Jews,' crossed the line.
Video reviewed by GBH and other outlets indicated the 'Kill the Jews' phrase was uttered by a pro-Israel counter-protester holding an Israeli flag, not by encampment participants
All 98 arrestees were charged with unlawful assembly and trespassing; only 29 were confirmed Northeastern students
Context

Background

The April 27, 2024 Northeastern Centennial Common encampment clearance is among the most factually contested spring 2024 encampment sweeps. The encampment was erected at approximately 8:00 AM EDT on Thursday April 25 by approximately 30 protesters and grew through Friday. In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday April 27, NUPD, Boston Police, and Massachusetts State Police surrounded the encampment beginning at approximately 5:30 AM EDT and began arrests by 7:00 AM. Police arrested 98 people in approximately 90 minutes; all were charged with unlawful assembly and trespassing, and five faced additional charges (four for resisting arrest, one for illegal possession of a folding knife on campus). Twenty-nine arrestees were Northeastern students and six were Northeastern faculty/staff. Anyone who could produce a valid Northeastern ID was released and referred to internal university discipline rather than continuing through the criminal process. Northeastern's official statement framing cited 'virulent antisemitic slurs, including Kill the Jews' as justification for the sweep — a claim contradicted within hours by video showing the phrase had been uttered by a pro-Israel counter-protester holding an Israeli flag, not by the encampment participants. Northeastern did not retract the framing. The case is significant for this archive because it documents Northeastern's pattern of using official statements rather than emergency push notifications for incidents the institution treats as policy enforcement rather than active threats — and because the incident shows how university communications can shape public perception even when the underlying factual claims are quickly disputed.
Analysis

Key Findings

98 arrests in a pre-dawn 90-minute sweep beginning at approximately 5:30 AM EDT — the time chosen to minimize crowd dynamics and bystander interference
The institutional justification — 'Kill the Jews' chants — was contradicted within hours by video evidence showing the phrase came from a pro-Israel counter-protester, not from encampment participants
Of 98 arrested, only 29 were Northeastern students and six were faculty/staff — the rest were non-affiliates from the broader Boston activist community
Anyone with a valid Northeastern ID was released and referred to university discipline rather than continuing through criminal process — a hybrid enforcement pattern
Northeastern relied on official statements rather than emergency notifications for incident communication — consistent with the university's preference for press-release-based incident messaging
Outcome
98 people arrested in the pre-dawn sweep; all charged with unlawful assembly and trespassing. Five faced additional charges (four for resisting arrest, one for illegal possession of a folding knife). Twenty-nine arrestees were Northeastern students; six were faculty or staff. Anyone able to produce a valid Northeastern ID was released and referred to internal university discipline. The factual basis for the clearance — Northeastern's claim that 'Kill the Jews' had been chanted by encampment participants — was contradicted within hours by video showing a pro-Israel counter-protester had uttered the phrase.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Northeastern administration releases statement about encampment and arrests (Huntington News)
    huntnewsnu.com
  2. News
    Police detain around 100, clear pro-Palestinian encampment at Northeastern (WBUR)
    wbur.org
  3. News
    Pro-Israel Agitator Shouts 'Kill the Jews,' Gets Everyone Else Arrested (Daily Beast)
    thedailybeast.com
  4. News
    Who was arrested at Northeastern's encampment, by the numbers (Boston Globe)
    bostonglobe.com
  5. Student Paper
    BREAKING: Pro-Palestine demonstrators erect encampment on Centennial Common (Huntington News)
    huntnewsnu.com
  6. News
    Pro-Palestinian student protest at Northeastern University in Boston cleared by police (CBS Boston)
    cbsnews.com
Tags
civil-unrestgaza-encampmentcentennial-commonnupdantisemitism-claimnortheasternmassachusettsbostonprivate-r1pre-dawn-sweep
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion