LAPD officers in riot gear clear out pro-Palestinian encampment on USC campus

Los Angeles police officers in riot gear arrived at the University of Southern California on Sunday morning to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment after issuing a dispersal warning.

Live footage from the USC campus showed officers creating a perimeter around the encampment site, with no demonstrators visible there. Tents and debris were left behind.

During the night, protesters were still camping. A few hours later, the area was cleared. No arrests have been reported.

The LAPD moved into the site around 4 a.m., warning protesters to voluntarily clear the area. This followed a USC announcement on social media platform X, in which the university said: “If you are in the center of campus, please leave. People who do not leave could be arrested. »

When police arrived, protesters were chanting and some people were banging drums.

“Today we saw heavy police activity on campus. Earlier today we had set up an encampment here with at least 100 members,” said Zain Khan, a USC student journalist, who added that LAPD officers came to campus and provided information. a warning to disperse following which most of the demonstrators left peacefully.

“DPS and LAPD escorted them and basically cleared the area,” Zain added. No conflict or violence was reported.

In a statement, Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications at USC, said:

“Earlier today, the University of Southern California Department of Public Safety (DPS) successfully cleared the reconstructed illegal encampment on the university campus. The Los Angeles Police Department had to be requested Angeles to intervene to provide security as this was peaceful No Arrests were reported We would like to thank the LAPD for assisting DPS in clearing the camp and restoring normalcy to the students and community. community as quickly and safely as possible We will share more information with our community later today.

Earlier in the week, USC President Carol Folt said the school had opened disciplinary investigations against individuals who “violated our policies and the law.” She did not reveal how many people were under investigation. Disciplinary investigations followed April 24, arrests of 93 people on campus after a clash between protesters from the encampment and the police.

USC has been the subject of student protests against the war in Gaza as well as the administration’s decision to cancel a graduation speech by valedictorian Asna Tabassum, a Muslim student who publicly supported the Palestinians. The university made the decision in mid-April, saying it had security concerns after receiving threats. Some Jewish groups had criticized the student’s choice as speaker.

Administrators later canceled the entire main stage event scheduled for May 10, when 65,000 people were expected to celebrate the graduates. Other commencement activities, including graduation ceremonies for individual schools and colleges, are still scheduled Thursday through Sunday. Access to the private campus has been largely restricted to those not affiliated with the university since late April.