Austin, Texas, USA - April 29, 2024 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of pro-Palestinian demonstrators holding up banners on campus
2. Various of participants being dragged away by police officers, others recording with phones

Baltimore, Maryland, USA - April 30, 2024 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ray Baker, adjunct professor, Towson University:
"The establishment rarely, if ever, welcomes protest, welcomes modifications, welcomes adjustment, and so it stands to reason that the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the United States would not want to see mass protests among college students engaging in a disagreement, a public disagreement, and in fact, public embarrassment of the public policies of the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, and the White House. The entire foreign policy apparatus in the United States is being embarrassed by these protests. So, it stands to reason with very clear rationality why leadership of the United States public policy arm would want to go to these college campuses and quell that conversation."

FILE: Washington D.C., USA - May 12, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of White House, Lafayette Square

FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of U.S. national flag, Capitol building

Baltimore, Maryland, USA - April 30, 2024 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ray Baker, adjunct professor, Towson University:
"Now, this isn't a question of morality or justice because we cannot pretend that empires operate in the space of morality and justice. We must acknowledge that empires exist to perpetuate their own positivity and power. In that vein, the Speaker of the House has every right and desire to go to these college campuses and is ostensibly telling the president of the Columbia University and signaling to presidents of universities all across the nation, 'Get your people under control. If you cannot, we have armed forces that are there to do that.' That invites us to reflect on what does that say about the United States, if that's the way that we adjudicate this discrepancy with our public policy by bringing in our armed wing of enforcement to restrain protests and get people back under control."

Los Angeles, California, USA - April 27, 2024 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Various of pro-Palestinian messages from demonstrators, encampment on campus

The U.S. government's use of strong-arm measures to quell voices that differ from its official position speaks volume about the American political system, Ray Baker, adjunct professor at Towson University in Baltimore said on Tuesday.

In a video interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Baker weighed in on the widespread pro-Palestinian demonstrations which are ongoing at multiple U.S. colleges and the political establishment's use of excessive police force against the students.

Colombia University in New York is seen as the "flashpoint" of the student demonstrations which have sprung up across the nation, with the participants there setting up encampments as they continue to voice their anger over Israel's bombardment and siege in the Gaza Strip.

House Speaker Mike Johnson last week called on the president of Columbia University to resign over the prolonged demonstrations, and when Johnson paid an April 24 visit to the Colombia University's campus, where tensions are high between the university administration and students, he was met with booing crowds.

Baker believes that this shows the U.S. political establishment actually rarely wants to hear voices that disagree with its official line and that it views such public disagreements as an embarrassment that need to be contained by whatever means it can.

"The establishment rarely, if ever, welcomes protest, welcomes modifications, welcomes adjustment, and so it stands to reason that the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the United States would not want to see mass protests among college students engaging in a disagreement, a public disagreement, and in fact, public embarrassment of the public policies of the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, and the White House. The entire foreign policy apparatus in the United States is being embarrassed by these protests. So, it stands to reason with very clear rationality why leadership of the United States public policy arm would want to go to these college campuses and quell that conversation," said the professor.

Baker was also scathing in his assessment of how the U.S. is operating as an empire, and said the U.S. political establishment's response to the student demonstrations has thrown into sharp relief its true colors.

"We must acknowledge that empires exist to perpetuate their own positivity and power. In that vein, the Speaker of the House has every right and desire to go to these college campuses and is ostensibly telling the president of the Columbia University and signaling to presidents of universities all across the nation, 'Get your people under control. If you cannot, we have armed forces that are there to do that.' That invites us to reflect on what does that say about the United States, if that's the way that we adjudicate this discrepancy with our public policy by bringing in our armed wing of enforcement to restrain protests and get people back under control," he said.