About 100 hundred protesters — many of them students — occupied the Auraria campus on Thursday night, chanting anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian slogans.

Rep. Elisabeth Epps, D-Denver, joined the protest in front of the Tivoli Student Union, the latest in what has been a wave of pro-Palestinian rallies on campuses across the United States in the last several days. Epps declined an interview with the Denver Gazette.

The protesters in Denver set up about a dozen tents. It’s unclear at press time how the university officials intend to handle the protest.

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” the protesters chanted.

The river is the Jordan and the sea is the Mediterranean, between which lie Israel and the Palestinian territories. Palestinian activists say it’s a call for peace and equality after 75 years of Israeli statehood and decades-long Israeli military rule over millions of Palestinians. Jews hear a clear demand for Israel’s annihilation.

“For months and months, I’ve been watching children being killed with our money,” said Shannon Birch, a Colorado State University senior student.

Similar protests have erupted elsewhere in the country.

In New York, more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters had been arrested at Columbia University, prompting the Ivy League school to cancel in-person classes and religious leaders to encourage Jewish students to celebrate Passover elsewhere.

At Michigan State University, students set up an encampment on campus to pressure the university to divest in Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Robyn Hughey, executive director of the Hillel Jewish Student Center at the university, called the encampments “deeply concerning and problematic.”

“Students have a right to protest, but they do not have the right to intimidate or threaten Jewish students,” Hughey said. “Our most important priority is keeping Jewish students safe — first, foremost, and always. The university has indicated that the protesters will be required to obtain a permit from the Board of Trustees to continue their encampment. It is my hope that the board and administration will enforce the universities own ordinances as it continues to balance safety with free speech.”