University Protests Over War in Gaza Lead to Hundreds of Arrests on College Campuses

CBS News reports that students across the U.S.have been arrested for protesting Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza on college campuses in Massachusetts, Texas, California, and most recently New York. According to CNN, these protests have sparked student protests in Australia and France. Students are demanding that their schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling the conflict. PRRI finds that Gen Zers distrust institutions more than older generations: 53% trust the police, 41% trust the federal government, and only 37% say they trust the news.

Arizona House Votes to Repeal Civil War-era Abortion Ban

Caroline Kitchener and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez for The Washington Post report that the Arizona House voted Wednesday to repeal a near-total ban on abortion set to take effect as early as June 8. Earlier this month, the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated the 1864 abortion law after it had been overturned initially in 2022 following the Dobbs decision. If the repeal is passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, the near-total ban could still take effect for several months until the repeal is implemented. PRRI finds that 74% of Americans oppose laws that make it a felony to perform an abortion.

Local Election Workers Fear Threats to Their Safety As November Nears

For the Associated Press, Christina A. Cassidy reports that local election clerks and law enforcement officials across the country are holding training sessions to prepare for escalating harassment and threats to their safety ahead of the presidential election. Threats to election offices have increased following former President Donald Trump’s false claims of his 2020 loss. PRRI’s 2023 American Values Survey finds that Americans who believe the election was stolen from Trump are more than three times as likely as those who do not believe it was stolen from Trump – 46% to 13%, respectively – to agree that true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country.

Faith, Religiosity, and Climate Change Attitudes

In a new Spotlight Analysis, PRRI Public Fellow Youssef Chouhoud, Ph.D., looks at the influence of religious affiliation and religiosity on Americans’ climate change attitudes. While Americans’ views on climate change differ by party affiliation, age, and education, religion also helps understand Americans’ views on the subject: only 31% of white evangelical Protestants and 39% of those who report that religion is “the most important thing” in their life say that climate change is primarily caused by human activity. However, further analysis of PRRI data shows that Americans’ attitudes on the environment may be more malleable than they seem from our polarized discourse.