HOUSTON, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Police and pro-Palestinian protesters clashed on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, U.S. state of Texas, on Monday afternoon.

More than 40 people were arrested during the chaos, a witness estimated, who also saw at least three people passing out from dehydration and being transported to the hospital during the protest.

"I have seen two people violently arrested," a protester told Xinhua, asking for anonymity.

The rally started as an event on recent Diversity, Equity and Inclusion layoffs at the university, and anti-war protesters joined at noon time, local media outlet KNUE reported.

Shortly afterwards, the University of Texas Police Department posted a dispersal order on social media, demanding everyone leave the rally area immediately.

Around 1:30 p.m. local time, police moved in to clear people out of the area by force.

Protesters could be heard chanting, "There is no riot here, why are you in riot gear?"

"What brought me out today was seeing the response against students here who are peacefully protesting. I find it absurd that the state and local police departments have come down upon UT Austin and arrested students and protesters for peacefully protesting," Elliott Benavides, a student with UT Austin, told Xinhua.

"I'm a faculty at UT Austin. We are here on behalf of our students who are no longer safe on this campus because the university administration insists on calling in the police every time the students gather to voice their opinions," said Pavithra Vasudevan, a university faculty member.

The university has said the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the group that organized last week's protest in which 57 people were arrested, has been placed on interim suspension.

"UT Austin does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses," the UT Division of Student Affairs said in a statement before last week's protest.

However, all charges against the 57 protesters arrested last week have been dropped, the Travis County attorney's office confirmed on Friday.

From Texas to California, pro-Palestinian demonstrations are spreading on campuses across the United States as the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza continues. Hundreds have been arrested by police amid student protests.

According to media reports, students from Yale University, New York University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina, Brown University, the University of Southern California, and other universities also staged encampments in solidarity with their peers at Columbia University. Enditem

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