UPDATE: Northeastern protestors reject university's reasoning for clearing pro-Palestinian encampment

About 100 individuals on the campus of Northeastern University were detained early Saturday morning as police began clearing an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters.

The school said that the protest, which started two days ago, was “unauthorized” and had become “infiltrated by professional organizers” with no affiliation to Northeastern.

In a statement, university spokesperson Renata Nyul said the clearing was prompted by “the use of virulent antisemitic slurs, including 'Kill the Jews.'” It went on to say such language “crossed the line” and “[w]e cannot tolerate this kind of hate on our campus.”

GBH's Tori Bedford was on the scene Friday night and reported hearing at least once instance of hateful language, but attributed it to a counter-protester.

Social media posts said Northeastern University and State police began lining up at around 5 a.m.

Northeastern says several attempts were made to encourage students to disperse but it had no effect.

Shortly before 7 a.m., police began detaining protesters one-by-one. The process appears to have been more orderly than the chaotic scene outside Emerson College early Thursday morning. There have been no reports of substantial injuries so far.

Northeastern said detained protesters with a valid university ID were released and will face internal discipline. Anyone unable or unwilling to show a university affiliation was arrested.

GBH's Sam Turken spoke to protest organizers who confirmed that they were joined by some students from other universities, including UMass-Boston, but they disputed Northeastern's contention that “professional organizers” were present in the encampment.

As of late Saturday morning, about two-dozen student protesters remained off to the side chanting slogans at police as workers continued to remove the remaining tents and items left behind.