Sri Lanka, April 27 -- A US professor was knocked down to the ground by the police and handcuffed as pro-Palestine protests intensified in top universities across the country.

In a video recorded by CNN reporters, Professor Caroline Fohlin can be seen attempting to intervene as police officers wrestle one student protester to the ground during a pro-Palestine protest at Emory University in Atlanta.

As she asked the police personnel to "get away" from the student, an official knocks her to the ground. Another cop joined to help press her into the ground. The two pinned her hands behind her back with zip ties as she repeatedly told them, "I'am a professor."

The spreading protests began at Columbia University, which has remained the epice...