Public school rules don’t generally apply to universities. Though there is a constitutional right present due to most schools being government or quasi-government actors and college campuses being traditional public forums (again, very generally), the exercise of some rights are more broadly interpreted while other are more narrowly interpreted.

Afaik, universities are private. Specifically, Columbia University is definitely private.

And the ruling you're talking about has a lot of restrictions which wouldn't apply here anyway.

You can't discriminate against cause. If you allow one protest to give speeches in the Quad, I suppose you would be required to give other causes equal access to the Quad.

These students created an encampment, which goes beyond past permitted protests at that university, afaik. I doubt university admin would allow that under any circumstances, even if they agree with the cause, because it sets a dangerous precedent.

But, again, this is a private university. These rules do not apply.

Are the colleges these protesters being arrested from public schools, or private universities? As far as I was aware, most colleges/universities are private. Community colleges are public.

The legality argument also ignores the police tradition of breaking the law while shutting down protests just because they can get away with it.

And that's precisely why it is so important to keep the legality of specific actions in mind while evaluating the actions of both the protestors, and the police, while having the conversation on protests and the responses such as these.

This conversation is the result of a direct reply to yet another comment indicating a lack of understanding of what is legal when protesting in the USA.

The morality of both the protestors and the authorities is far more subjective. But I keep seeing the same basic question "I thought it was legal to protest in the USA, how can they arrest them?", so clarifying the boundaries of your rights is a good starting point, IMO. And frankly, bears repeating due to how frequently this is misunderstood and misrepresented.

I only read the aclu one as the only reputable source I recognize. That doesn't say what you seem to think it says.

Small accounting errors, felony. Putting your pills into a reminder box and traveling accross straight line, felony. Accidentally drive an ATV or dirt bike onto unmarked federal land, felony. Delete CP of a used laptop, felony.

The fact of the matter is any felony that is common to commit, are kind of boring. The federal code is so long and complex that you can find thousands of cases of people being unexpectedly tried for odd felonies. The federal code has become so cumbersome that no one actually knows the law until you're in a court room with a bunch of lawyers paid to research that specific law.