Pro-Palestinian protesters set up encampment at Drexel University

A group of about 75 protesters have set up tents on Drexel University's campus in West Philadelphia, forcing the buildings to be placed on lockdown, according to the school's president.

The group made their way over to Drexel around 7 p.m. Saturday where they set up tents on the Academic Quadrangle as police set up barricades to control the crowd.

"We wanna keep it peaceful at the same time. We don't want anyone to get hurt, just want people to be heard," Drexel University senior Kendell Lewis, of Bucks County, told NBC10.

The rally has been peaceful so far with no physical violence, but the protesters have definitely been loud and passionate. Some have been calling officers names and calling for Palestinians to be free.

A group by the name of Drexel Palestine Coalition released a statement on Saturday night that shed more light on the protesters setting up tents as well as what they are hoping to accomplish.

A spokesperson with the group called the tent set up a "Gaza Solidarity Encampment," and said that community members of the city of Philadelphia are part of the protest.

Police in Philadelphia told NBC10 that not all of the protesters are Drexel students and some aren't even students at all.

A Drexel University alumni was among the crowd and said, "Open the books, let us see what it is, right, let us see where you're actually spending your money, and democratically we should be able to decide, as students who go to the area, who work for the schools, we should be the ones to decide where that money goes and what's done with it.”

Law enforcement officials arrived to the campus dressed in riot gear just before 9 p.m. in response to the crowd. Some responding officers wore helmets and carried shields.

Drexel University's President John Fry shared a statement on the encampment and protest Saturday.

"Drexel Police and Public Safety are closely monitoring this demonstration to ensure that it is peaceful and non-disruptive to normal operations, and that participants and passersby will behave respectfully toward one another. We will be prepared to respond quickly to any disruptive or threatening behavior by anyone against anyone," Fry said in the statement. "We will not tolerate the destruction of property; the harassment or intimidation of our students, faculty or professional staff; or threatening behavior of any kind, including speech that is explicitly racist, antisemitic, or Islamophobic, that creates a hostile environment for members of our community based on race, color, national origin, religious affiliation, or shared ancestry. Nor will we allow anyone who is not a member of the Drexel community to trespass into our buildings and student residences. At the present time, our buildings are on lockdown and open only to those with clearance from Drexel’s Public Safety."

The protest started around 4 p.m. outside of City Hall.

Our cameras then captured hundreds of people who could be seen walking down JFK Boulevard in Center City in front of the Comcast Center just before 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Some were holding signs while others were carrying Palestinian flags.

Today's protest comes one day after 19 people were arrested, including six University of Pennsylvania students, on Friday night after attempting to occupy a building on the University of Pennsylvania campus, a university spokesperson said.

Seven of the students arrested on Friday remained in custody Saturday awaiting felony charges, including one person who assaulted an officer, campus police said. A dozen were issued citations for failing to disperse and follow police commands. They have been released from custody.

These protests this week come just one week after the University of Pennsylvania disbanded an encampment on its campus. Hours later that night, hundreds of people were walking through the streets of University City in Philadelphia carrying Palestinian flags.

Now, protesters at Drexel University say that they would like to combine with the people who are part of the University of Pennsylvania protest in order to create a bigger footprint.

Drexel protesters also want to encourage the university unions to go on strike in solidarity.

"Seeing it finally trickle down from our next-door neighbor to finally here, I hope it is more fruitful - and then more organizations around the area will also step up and also collab," Lewis said.

Protesters at Drexel say that they plan to stay camped out for as long as possible. These protests now come at a tricky time as final exams begin in about one week for students at the university while many families are already in town for graduation at the University of Pennsylvania on Monday.

Students and others have set up tent encampments on campuses around the country to protest the Israel-Hamas war, pressing colleges to cut financial ties with Israel. Tensions over the war have been high on campuses since the fall but the pro-Palestinian demonstrations spread quickly following an April 18 police crackdown on an encampment at Columbia University.

The demonstrations reached all corners of the United States, becoming its largest campus protest movement in decades, and spread to other countries, including many in Europe.

Nearly 3,000 people have been arrested on U.S. campuses over the past month. As summer break approaches, there have been fewer new arrests and campuses have been calmer. Still, colleges have been vigilant for disruptions to commencement ceremonies.