US police arrested a man who drove his car into a crowd of pro-Palestine demonstrators at Portland State University and then fled, spraying what appeared to be pepper spray at protesters who confronted him, on Thursday.
The Portland Police Office said in a statement that the man was taken to the hospital under police observation, while his name was not revealed.
The protesters shouted as the car accelerated towards the crowd. The demonstrators quickly approached the car and began knocking on it, but the driver quickly fled, spraying those who tried to catch him.
The Gaza crisis sparked anti-war demonstrations throughout the United States, Israel's most prominent ally, where protests were launched weeks ago at a number of American universities rejecting the war and demanding a ceasefire.
US President Joe Biden, who remained silent for a long time regarding these movements, said in a televised speech from the White House that “there is no place” for anti-Semitism on American universities, but at the same time he stressed that the United States “is not a nation that silences people.”
Follow the latest news on Google News
