I think it’s obvious what happened here and a clear overreaction on all fronts.
Pro Palestine demonstrations have been a thing in Austin for a while now since the conflict started.
The UT student body overreacted and jumped on a hype cycle because of the Columbia/USC/<insert other academic institution here> thing, many of which turned campuses into shitholes and are actually a problem. this isn’t up for debate. Tent camps and shanty towns aren’t safe for anyone and shouldn’t be allowed on campus under the guise of protest.
the UT leadership should have worked with the protest group to help them amplify their voices the best with help from the university and law enforcement to make sure things went well and according to plan. Instead they overreacted to the hype cycle and assumed that tent camps were going to happen, because it was more likely than it was 2 weeks ago for that to the the case.
the cops overreacted by being literal shitbags and not just letting the protest happen all day and keeping people from setting up camp or long term occupation. Arresting people is absolutely insane.
Hartzel fucked up and is in the middle of a political shitstorm. He underreacted and was too slow to act. He should have gone to the organizer in person on campus and talked to them in front of everyone to say what was and wasn’t gonna happen and if they didn’t listen he was going to have to call authorities. Instead he sat in his ivory tower and fucked the entire thing. His campus was militarized and there was more violence caused by the police than the students. His statement after was completely inappropriate and clearly not in the best interest for the student, faculty or institutional population.