University of Toronto administrators are pushing back against the illegal anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian encampment set up early Thursday morning on the downtown campus at King’s College Circle.

A statement issued from U of T this morning reads in part, “the university respects the rights of our community to assemble and protest within the limits of the law and U of T policies but they must not interfere with the ability of students, faculty, librarians and staff to learn, teach, research and work on our campuses or disrupt or impede other university activities.”

It was a couple of days ago, the university put up a fence around King’s College circle warning against setting up any illegal encampments.

Demonstrators on Thursday have admitted to reporters on the scene they took down the fence overnight and set up dozens of tents.

They are calling for U of T to divest in Israel and say they are inspired by the university protests against the Israel Hamas war in the U.S., particularly at Columbia in New York.

The University of Toronto encampment is now one of a growing number at Canadian universities as a protest to the Israel’s retaliation against Hamas since the terror attacks of October 7th.