i want to go straight to our ed lavendera, who's on the campus of ut at austin. added does appear like things have escalated in the past few moments. we've seen more arrests. we can see those pink t-shirts of what i believe are medics who appear to be treating some of those protesters. what are you seeing? >> yeah. we've seen a couple of times where medics have gone inside the encircled area and pulled some people out, but we have also now seen state troopers going i'm starting to forcibly remove some of the protesters by our count and it's a rough estimate at this point, so we're in the process of trying to gather this, but we think we've seen about at least six different protesters that have been taken into custody and the way it's playing out here, alex, is that as the state troopers have encircled this cabinet, they are clearly like going through and isolating individual people. and then there's a group of four or five, six officers that will go in i'm specifically grab one person and pull them out so suspecting that these are probably people they suspect of

cnn's ed lavendera. is there? ed, what are you seeing on that campus this is a situation that is quickly developing here on this campus. >> alex, would you see behind me is a number of protestors because you had been gathering out here throughout the morning, having poetry readings, some art sessions that what was supposed to have been billed as a educational setting of a protest that some professors were also holding a silent vigil. but then in just a matter of moments, these protesters gathered up all the tables. are there, have now encircled this and set up some tents and they're now calling this the liberated zone on the south mall of the campus. and let's be clear, it is a very small gathering at this point, but this is exactly the kind of seen that university officials have been very clear that they were not going to allow in any kind of way. in fact, some speaking with university officials over the of course of the last week, there was definitely a sense that what they had seen play out at other campuses acr

course, all of it driven by one of the world's truly intractable conflicts wanna go first to cnn's ed lavendera, the university of texas in austin. we're please just apparently using pepper spray on some in the crowd within the last hour. and what's the latest where you are? just explain what's happening around you. >> well, all of the protesters that were taken into custody or we don't have an official number yet in a number of people arrested. but what we witnessed was several dozen protesters taken into custody once those people were moved off campus law enforcement officers have now moved away from the scene. and this is what has left of the massive protests can you there are still a few people here gathered in the exact same spot where much of this protests started earlier in the de, incredibly tense for some time we saw state troopers once again return here to the campus and circle this area that had been taken over with tents and dozens of students, which they described. anderson has a liberated in kanban zone in solidarity with what other campuses have been doing as well. and when that

i want to go now to texas to austin, texas where our ed lavendera is. there were clashes overnight between protesters and police. we were watching some of that unfold during the day. let us know what's happening now on campus and what you're hearing well it's quiet right now, but yesterday we saw dozens of protesters who were taken into custody by law enforcement official, state troopers, austin police, as well as the university of texas police department. >> and many of those protesters were taken away on buses because there was so many of them. so we saw people carried away refusing to leave the premises. these protesters were ordered to leave after they started setting up tents in the area behind me on the south mall of the university of texas campus, university of visuals have been saying for days that that would be the line in the sand that could not be crossed in terms of setting up an encampment of the idea of occupying any kind of space on this campus was not going to be allowed in that triggered in pence moments through for several hours yester

austin, they have been squaring off with police in riot gear dozens now, reportedly arrested in our ed lavendera has been in the middle of it at ut austin. so ed, what are you seeing behind you now? >> well, this is a protest that has lasted well into six hours now, and that standoff that we were showing you earlier, aaron, that resulted in a little bit of pepper spray or been fired? are those officers have kind of left that area gone inside the main tower building here, and then we can kinda turn around and show you how this is the area where the officers have gone back inside. so there's a handful of them standing guard outside of the school. but now these protests are saying that they're going to go back to the south side of the campus and the campus square area. and this is where the protest started this afternoon. and that is an area where we saw and we were reported live this afternoon as state troopers and austin police and as well as university of texas police department. were we we witnessed is taking several dozen people into custody and arrested. they were warned that if they did not

cnn's ed lavendera is watching all of this unfold on one particular campus, university of texas, austin we're texas state police. i'm moved in on protesters earlier, made some arrests and what is the latest there now hey, jake was the camp just moments ago? >> hi, has essentially been cleared out of all of the protesters are letter photographer kind of stepping here through the crowd and kind of get a shot of what is left there were dozens of protesters here's inside this circle that has been cordoned off by state troopers, ut police, as well as austin police. and over the last two hours, jake we have seen several dozen people taken into custody. we don't have an exact number on the amount of people who have been arrested, but ut officials in a statement saying a short while ago over the weekend, they started receiving threats from the group, which they did not specify from that was organizing the protest here on the ut campus they also said that they believed that the majority of the people who have been taken into custody here at these protests are not students, but regardless, it has

ed lavendera and texas in austin the student protests, they're thanks so much. let's go now to cnn. cnn's me. go marquez, who was in new york city, the campus of columbia, and barnard university, amigo. what are the students they're telling you? >> they do not want to leave. they've kicked it back over the university and said, we'll leave if you forces out and the university is basically said you've gone past the 2:00 p.m. deadlines and leave the encampment peaceably. >> in the next couple of days, it sounds like they will decide whether or not those individuals will be suspended and then might be more but the university says itself, it doesn't want to have to call it in libd, but the university has those and i'll show you right now. >> is save button nypd protect the gates outside thing for columbia can be pretty well walked down these are the main gates to spin action reactions to the last couple of we so, as soon as that work went out what's going to shut down the student, protesters and processes to come to the campus itself outside the campus. and that's the result you see here

clearly escalating right now at the university of texas in austin want to check back with cnn's ed lavendera is on the scene for us and give us an update well, we continue to monitor the situation where the heavy law enforcement presence that was here on the campus is trying to what appears to be just leave the situation either dozens of our state troopers get were brought in as well as other local police officers. and after the encampment area was cleared in one part of campus they started being followed by many of the protesters that were protesters outside of that area. >> and it has become rather tense. it's at some point some sort of we've seen a number of officer of pepper spraying some with the protesters that didn't following and essentially forcing one bus full of state troopers to back its way out of out of the area. we had heard a couple of loud explosion kim's to stop here, but we just sound disbursement or who is in kind of pepper spray or an irritant that was involved in that. i just don't know at this point, we did see number of people who are trying to get their eyes treated