Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Friday went to the Auraria Campus in an attempt to persuade the protesters to voluntarily dismantle their tents.

He failed. 

“We are here to try to make sure we can help you all exercise your right to protest peacefully,” the mayor said.

To do that, the mayor said, the campus must be able to continue to operate.

Police officers later arrested more than two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters. They also cleared several tents that went up near the Tivoli building on the Auraria campus on Thursday, when the protesters made several demands, notably that the University of Colorado divest from corporations that operate in Israel.

Denver protesters arrested as police dismantle encampment on Auraria Campus

The protest — and the arrests that followed — were part of a wave of pro-Palestinian rallies on campuses across the United States in the last several days and increasing worries by Jewish students for their physical safety.   

Johnston was interrupted several times.

“Do you support genocide?” the protesters asked the mayor.

“I’m going to talk for 60 seconds and I’ll walk. If you want to listen, you can. If not, that’s your choice,” Johnston replied.

Johnston told the protesters that erecting the tents violates campus policy, and that if they took them down within the next 30 minutes, they could continue to protest, adding, “We have no desire to make arrests.”

“It’s more of the same. Our demands are not being met,” one protester told Johnston, who replied, “I have no capacity to meet any of your demands.”

As Johnston walked away, one of the protesters yelled, “You (expletive) fascist.”