Groups of dueling protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, punching, shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat each other. Hours earlier, police armed with riot shields had burst into a Columbia University building where pro-Palestinian demonstrators had taken control and dispersed a demonstration that paralyzed the school while inspiring protests. others.
After a few hours of occasional scuffles between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters at UCLA, police officers wearing helmets and face shields arrived, formed lines and began slowly surrounding some protesters. This seemed to quell the violence.
Police have swarmed U.S. campuses over the past two weeks in response to protests calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or with companies that support the war in Gaza. There were clashes and more than 1,000 arrests. In rarer cases, university officials and protest leaders have reached agreements to limit disruptions to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.
The clashes at UCLA took place around a tent encampment built by pro-Palestinian protesters, who erected barricades and plywood to protect themselves – while counter-protesters attempted to tear them down. People threw chairs and at one point a group piled on top of a person who was lying on the ground, kicking and hitting her with sticks until others pulled her off. the fray.
It is unclear how many people could be injured.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the violence “absolutely heinous and inexcusable” in a post on the social media platform X and said Los Angeles Police Department officers were at the scene. California Highway Patrol officers also appeared to be present. said he asked for help.
Security was increased on campus Tuesday after officials said there were “physical altercations” between factions of protesters.
Late the same day, New York City officers entered the Columbia campus after the university requested assistance, according to a statement released by a spokesperson. A tent encampment on school grounds was cleared, along with Hamilton Hall, where a stream of officers used a ladder to climb through a second-story window. Protesters took over the hall at the Ivy League school about 20 hours earlier.
“After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and boarded up, we had no choice,” the school said. “The decision to contact the NYPD was a response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are defending. We have made it clear that campus life cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.”
Police spokesman Carlos Nieves said there were no immediate reports of injuries. The arrests came after protesters ignored an earlier ultimatum to abandon the encampment Monday or face suspension and deployment as other universities stepped up efforts to end the Colombia-inspired protests.
Fabien Lugo, a first-year accounting student, who said he was not involved in the protests, said he was opposed to the university’s decision to call the police.
“It’s too intense,” he said. “It looks more like an escalation than a de-escalation.”
A few blocks away in Columbia, at the City College of New York, protesters clashed with police outside the public college’s main entrance. Video posted to social media by journalists at the scene Tuesday evening showed police knocking some people to the ground and shoving others as they evacuated people from the street and sidewalks.
After police arrived, officers placed a Palestinian flag on top of the City College flagpole, balled it up and threw it to the ground before raising an American flag.
Brown University, another member of the Ivy League, reached an agreement Tuesday with protesters on its Rhode Island campus. The protesters said they would close their encampment in exchange for a vote by trustees to divest from Israel in October. The compromise appears to be the first time an American university has agreed to vote on divestment following the protests.
Photos: Pro-Palestinian protests on American college campuses
Meanwhile, at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, police in riot gear closed in on an encampment Tuesday evening and arrested about 20 people for trespassing, at least one of whom was knocked to the ground. University officials had warned earlier in the day that the students would face criminal charges if they did not disperse.
Watching from the sidelines was freshman Brayden Lang. “I still know very little about this conflict,” he said. “But the death of thousands of people is something I cannot bear.”
The nationwide campus protests began at Columbia in response to the Israeli offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7. The militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostages. By promising to eradicate Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry.
While ceasefire negotiations appeared to be gaining momentum, it was unclear whether those talks would lead to an easing of protests.
Israel and its supporters have called the university protests anti-Semitic, while Israel’s critics say it is using the allegations to silence opposition. Although some demonstrators have been filmed making anti-Semitic remarks or violent threats, protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protest against the war.
The Columbia Police action came on the 56th anniversary of a similar move to quash the occupation of Hamilton Hall by students protesting racism and the Vietnam War.
The police department said earlier Tuesday that officers would not enter the grounds without the request of the college administration or an imminent emergency. From now on, the police will be there until May 17, the end date of the university’s opening ceremonies.
In a letter to top NYPD officials, Columbia President Minouche Shafik said the administration had asked police to remove protesters from the occupied building and a nearby tent encampment “with the utmost regret “.
Protesters first set up a tent encampment in Columbia nearly two weeks ago. The school sent police to clear the tents the next day, arresting more than 100 people, and then the students returned.
Negotiations between protesters and the college have stalled in recent days, and the school has set a deadline for activists to abandon the tent encampment Monday afternoon or face suspension.
Instead, protesters defied the ultimatum and took over Hamilton Hall early Tuesday, carrying furniture and metal barricades.
Ilana Lewkovitch, a self-described “left-wing Zionist” student at Columbia, said it has been difficult to concentrate on school for weeks. His exams were disrupted by slogans such as “Say it loud, say it clearly, we want the Zionists out of here.”
Lewkovitch, who is Jewish, said she wishes current pro-Palestinian protests were more open to people like her who criticize Israel’s war policies but believe there should be an Israeli state.
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Offenhartz and Frederick reported from New York. Associated Press journalists across the country contributed to this report, including Cedar Attanasio, Jonathan Mattise, Colleen Long, Karen Matthews, Jim Vertuno, Hannah Schoenbaum, Sarah Brumfield, Christopher Weber, Carolyn Thompson, Dave Collins, Makiya Seminera, Philip Marcelo, Corey Williams. and Felicia Fonseca.
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