Biden Speaks Out on Student Protests

"Dissent is essential for democracy. But dissent must never lead to disorder," President Biden said Thursday in his latest remarks on the protests against the war in Gaza that have erupted at dozens of universities across the country. The New York Times reports that Biden "tried to walk a fine line" between condemning violence and supporting free speech. "Violent protest is not protected," Biden said, per CNN Business. "Peaceful protest is. It's against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law." He added: "Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation—none of this is a peaceful protest."

The president, speaking not long after police cleared a protest encampment at UCLA, said, "Order must prevail." In response to questions, he said he had no intention of changing his policy on Israel and would not be calling in the National Guard, as some Republicans have called for, the Guardian reports. The AP notes that when anti-Vietnam War protests shook campuses across the country in 1968, Biden, who was studying law at Syracuse University at the time, wasn't part of the anti-war movement. Years later, he said, "I'm not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts. You know, that's not me." (More 2024 campus protests stories.)