This is the moment Oregon police took over the Portland State University library, amid another night of chaos on a college campus as authorities attempt to destroy anti- Israelis throughout the country.
PSU’s Millar Library had been busy since Monday. During the cleanup, police arrested at least 30 activists.
Earlier at PSU, footage showed a student protester ramming a police officer while holding a makeshift shield and being arrested.
The video shows two masked protesters carrying shields made from trash cans running directly toward a police officer while people cheered in the background.
One of the protesters is then seen crashing into the official but ends up being knocked to the ground.
Portland police officers stormed the Millar Library Thursday evening to retake it after it had been occupied by anti-Israel protesters since Monday
Activists had barricaded access to the library, which slowed down the police’s progress.
A look at some of the weapons stored by protesters
Protesters detained by police after raid
Elsewhere, before dawn, helmeted police invaded a tent city set up at the University of California, Los Angeles, using flash bangs and riot gear to push through lines of arm-in-arm protesters. a vain attempt to stop their progress.
Los Angeles police said on social media that 210 people were arrested at UCLA and hundreds of arrests were made at other universities overnight and Thursday.
“I’m a student here,” one UCLA protester told the cameras as he was led away with his hands tied. “Please don’t let us down. Don’t let us down.
Hours later, the student, who only wanted to give his first name Ryan, was back on campus and vowed he wouldn’t stop fighting.
“We’ll be back,” said Ryan, cited for unlawful assembly. “We are going to disrupt. We will demand divestment.
Students have gathered or set up tents at dozens of universities in recent days to protest Israel’s war on Gaza.
Protesters called on President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel’s right to defend itself, to do more to end the bloodshed in Gaza and demanded that schools divest from companies that support the Israeli government .
Many schools, including Columbia University in New York, called police to quell the protests.
Police officers scuffle with protesters attempting to block vehicles carrying detained students who were occupying Portland State University’s Millar Library.
Protesters at Portland State University broke into the school’s library and graffitied pro-Palestinian messages on the walls.
Biden broke his silence on protests Thursday after the UCLA raid, saying Americans have the right to protest but not to start violence.
“The destruction of property is not peaceful protest,” he said at the White House. ‘It’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, broken windows, campus closures, forced cancellation of classes and graduations: none of this is peaceful protest.
Biden, who is seeking re-election in November against former Republican President Donald Trump, has taken a cautious line as he faces criticism from the right and left over his policy toward Israel.
At UCLA, police repeatedly urged protesters to leave the protest zone, which occupied a central plaza the size of a football field, before moving in.
Dozens of loud explosions were heard from stun grenades fired by police, while demonstrators, some carrying shields and makeshift umbrellas, chanted “push them back” and shined bright lights in the officers’ eyes.
Live television footage showed police dismantling tents and dismantling makeshift barricades.
Some protesters had been seen donning safety helmets, goggles and respirator masks in anticipation of the siege, a day after the university declared the encampment illegal.
Pro-Palestinian protester treated ‘after being massacred’ during violent clashes at UCLA
Violence broke out throughout the night at UCLA before police finally intervened to restore calm.
On Tuesday evening, police officers burst into a lobby at Columbia University where activists were occupying the building.
In the morning, the square was littered with trash from the destroyed camp: tents, blankets, food containers, a Palestinian flag, an overturned helmet. Police remained on scene for the first half of the day as the area was cleared of debris.
In Portland, Oregon, police entered the Portland State University library Thursday morning, where protesters had been barricading themselves since Monday. Several dozen protesters ran out of the building and rushed toward a phalanx of police in riot gear, who arrested them.
Police made more arrests at the library Thursday evening as protesters tried to take it back. A university spokesperson said it was a “very fluid situation”.
In New Hampshire, police arrested about 100 protesters overnight in separate incidents at Dartmouth University and the University of New Hampshire, dispersing the encampments.
The protests follow the deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,200 people and took dozens hostage, and the Israeli offensive that followed that killed an estimated 34,000 people and created a humanitarian crisis.
Protests on campus were met with counter-protesters accusing them of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred. The pro-Palestinian side, including some Jews opposed to Israeli actions in Gaza, say they are unfairly labeled anti-Semitic for criticizing the Israeli government and expressing support for human rights.
UCLA canceled classes for the day on Wednesday following a violent clash between the occupants of the encampment and a group of masked counter-protesters who launched a surprise assault Tuesday evening on the tent city.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a written statement that authorities allowed the encampment to remain on campus for several days because it was peaceful at first, but that clashes with the pro-Israel crowd clearly students in danger.
“This led to unsafe conditions on our campus and harmed our ability to carry out our mission,” Block said of the encampment. “This had to end.”
Taylor Gee, a 30-year-old pro-Palestinian protester and UCLA law student, said Thursday’s police operation was “particularly infuriating” for many demonstrators given the slow police response. the night before.
“For them to come out the next night to take us out of the camp, it makes no sense, but it also makes all the sense in the world,” he said.
UCLA officials said the campus, which has nearly 52,000 students, would remain closed except for limited operations Thursday and Friday.
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