GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As graduation ceremonies took off in Florida last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered a heightened police presence on state university campuses.
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On Wednesday, the governor touted commencement ceremonies that went on without interruption amid a wave of recent pro-Palestinian campus protests.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles director, Dave Kerner, said its agency has always been available to assist campus police departments.
Read: ‘Not a daycare’: Several arrested during pro-Palestinian protests at Florida universities
“Florida’s colleges and universities will always remain centers of education and growth, not encampments of radicalization and intimidation,” Kerner said.
Campus protests stem from the war between Israel and Hamas.
Watch: Protesters clash with police at several universities in Florida
They have led to the arrests of dozens of protesters on at least three Florida university campuses over the past few weeks.
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