DeSantis Warns Pro-Palestine Student Protesters: ‘You Are Going to Be Expelled’

Pro-Hamas protest outside a Biden campaign event at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla., on April 23, 2024 (T.J. Muscaro/The Epoch Times).

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent a message to the state’s college students that the campuses in Gainesville and Tallahassee would not turn into any semblance of the pro-Hamas-packed schools in the Northeast like Columbia and Yale.

“At places like Columbia and Yale, Hamas protesters rule the roost, and the universities are too weak and scared to do anything—even as these mobs harass Jewish students and faculty,” the governor said on X (formerly Twitter). “If you try that at a Florida university, you are going to be expelled.”

Pro-Palestine protests have recently erupted on or around the campuses of Florida schools, including one involving students and faculty members at the University of Florida in Gainesville and another in Tampa, just beyond the fencing of Hillsborough Community College’s (HCC) campus and the location of a campaign event for President Biden.

The protests remained contained, with a strong police presence preventing them from spilling into the streets. However, antisemitic chants were heard at both demonstrations. Those at HCC specifically were yelling, “Long live the intifada,” referring to the uprising by the Palestinians to eliminate Israel from the region. It is not clear how many of the protesters are students of these schools.

These protests follow ongoing campus demonstrations in other parts of the country. Protesters at New York’s Columbia University, for example, have been camping out on its west lawn since April 17.

Columbia President Minouche Shafik extended the deadline to negotiate with the protesters to dismantle the encampments.

“I fully support the importance of free speech, respect the right to demonstrate, and recognize that many of the protesters have gathered peacefully,” she said in a statement.

“However, the encampment raises serious safety concerns, disrupts campus life, and has created a tense and, at times, hostile environment for many members of our community. It is essential that we move forward with a plan to dismantle it.”

On April 18, more than 100 students were arrested by the New York Police Department, and on April 23, Ms. Shafik said the university would consider “alternative options” to clear the encampment if necessary.

Mr. DeSantis described the presidents of these universities as “weak” and “scared,” saying, “they don’t do anything.”

“When you are chasing Jewish students around, when you’re not letting a Jewish professor enter a building, when you are targeting people like that, that’s not free speech,” Mr. DeSantis said. “That’s harassment. That violates appropriate conduct, and yet at Columbia, Yale, [and] all these places, those guys, those folks, rule the roost.

“You do that in Florida at our universities; we are showing you the door.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks about a toll highway relief program during a press conference held at the Greater Miami Expressway Agency in Miami, Fla., on April 1, 2024. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Protesters clashed with police in recent days at the University of Southern California and the University of Texas, resulting in more than 100 combined arrests.

Pro-Palestine protests have popped up beyond the boundaries of academia, with several demonstrations blocking bridges and highways in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco on April 15.

At the same time, protesters tried to block traffic in Miami, but, as Mr. DeSantis pointed out, “in 10 minutes, they got dragged off the road where they belonged.”

“We’re not going to tolerate that,” he said.

Aldgra Fredly, and Natasha Holt contributed to this report.