A pro-Palestinian US group filed a federal civil rights complaint against Columbia University following last week’s mass arrest of pro-Palestinian protesters after the school called police to clear demonstrator encampments, the group said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Palestine Legal, an organisation that seeks to protect the rights of people in the US to speak out on behalf of Palestinians, urged the US Education Department to probe the school’s actions, which it alleges were discriminatory against those who are pro-Palestinian.

Columbia University declined to comment.

Last week, the university tried to shut down campus demonstrations by force when Columbia President Minouche Shafik took the unusual move of inviting New York City police to enter the campus, drawing the ire of many human rights groups, students and faculty. More than 100 people were arrested, reminiscent of the demonstrations against the Vietnam War at Columbia more than 50 years ago.

Protests have since continued at Columbia and spread to other US campuses where hundreds have been arrested in the last week.

Advocacy groups note a rise in hate and bias against Jews, Arabs and Palestinians.