DEESCALATION & MITIGATION: ALL

Students at colleges and universities across the United States have established protest encampments over an array of issues related to the Israel-Palestine conflict, prompting a wide range of responses from school officials, law enforcement, counter-protesters, and local communities. This Issue Brief analyzes the latest data on the campus protests to map key trends in demonstration activity and responses to the encampments as of May 12, with a specific focus on incidents of physical violence and destructive activity, such as assaults, clashes, substantial property damage, and use of force by police.1 The Brief also reviews ongoing dialogue and de-escalation efforts to manage tensions among campus communities, as well as the protest movement’s trajectory going into the summer.

This brief outlines the latest research on hostility toward local officials and presents two critical recommendations that can advance efforts to mitigate risk: (1) investing in independent, sustained threat monitoring systems to inform holistic policy solutions over the long term; and (2) expanding access to funds for personal security for local officials in the short term. These measures will help ensure that officials — regardless of their independent financial resources — can continue to safely and effectively serve their communities.