Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters remained behind barricades on the UCLA campus early Thursday morning despite police orders to leave as officers prepared to move into their fortified encampment that was surrounded by a still crowd more numerous, including arm-clasping supporters and curious onlookers.
Videos began appearing on social media overnight showing police in the camp:
Later, the same group, calling itself the People’s City Council – Los Angeles, declared on X that the police were “retreating!!! LAPD is out of the camp! The students held the line! … The world Everyone is watching and the students are expelled, the police!”
Los Angeles City Comptroller Kenneth Mejia said on that “This is UCLA. There is a heavy police presence from multiple law enforcement agencies after outside mobs attacked peaceful student protesters last night with no one protecting them. Students are now facing police. We urge UCLA and city leaders to protect students, not do more harm.”
ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP via Getty Images
Large numbers of police began arriving late Wednesday afternoon, and empty buses were parked near the University of California, Los Angeles to evacuate protesters who were not respecting the order. The tense confrontation occurred a night after violence by counter-protesters broke out at the same location.
A small town sprung up inside the barricaded encampment, filled with hundreds of people and tents on campus grounds. Some protesters recited Muslim prayers as the sun set on campus, while others chanted “we are not leaving” or handed out goggles and surgical masks. They wore helmets and scarves and discussed the best ways to deal with pepper spray or tear gas while someone chanted into a megaphone.
A few constructed homemade shields out of plywood in case they came into conflict with police forming skirmish lines elsewhere on campus. “For rubber bullets, who wants a shield?” » shouted a demonstrator.
Meanwhile, a large crowd of students, alumni and neighbors gathered on the campus steps in front of the tents, sitting to listen and applaud the various speakers and join in the pro-Palestinian chants. A group of students holding signs and wearing T-shirts in support of Israel and the Jewish people demonstrated nearby.
The crowd continued to grow as the night wore on and more officers flocked to campus.
The presence of law enforcement and continued warnings contrasted with the scene the night before, when counterprotesters attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, throwing traffic cones, releasing pepper spray and destroying barriers. Fighting continued for several hours before police intervened, but no arrests were made. At least 15 protesters were injured and the authorities’ lukewarm response drew criticism from political leaders as well as Muslim students and advocacy groups.
Ray Wiliani, who lives nearby, said he came to UCLA Wednesday night to support pro-Palestinian protesters.
“We have to take a stand for this,” he said. “Enough is enough.”
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that “a group of instigators” carried out the previous night’s attack, but he did not provide details about the mob or the reasons. for which the school administration and police did not act sooner.
“Regardless of one’s opinion of the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was completely unacceptable,” he said. “This has deeply shaken our campus.”
Block promised a review of the night’s events after California Governor Gavin Newsom denounced the delays.
University of California System Executive Michael Drake ordered an “independent review of the university’s planning, actions, and law enforcement response.”
“The community needs to feel that the police are protecting them and not allowing others to harm them,” Rebecca Husaini, chief of staff for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said at a news conference on the Los Angeles campus. Angeles on Wednesday, where some Muslim students detailed the night’s events.
Speakers disputed the university’s account that 15 people were injured and one hospitalized, saying the number of people hospitalized was higher. One student described having to go to the hospital after being hit in the head by an object wielded by counter-protesters.
Several students who spoke at the news conference said they had to rely on each other, not the police, for support when they were attacked, and that many in the pro -Palestinians remained peaceful and did not engage in dialogue with the counter-protesters. UCLA canceled classes Wednesday.
The big picture
Encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or with companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread to campuses across the country in a student movement unprecedented this century. The police crackdown that followed echoed actions taken decades ago against a much larger protest movement against the Vietnam War.
An Associated Press tally counted at least 38 times since April 18, when arrests were made during protests on campuses across the United States. More than 1,600 people were arrested in 30 schools.
In rare cases, university officials and protest leaders have reached agreements to limit disruptions to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.
At Brown University in Rhode Island, trustees agreed to consider a vote to divest from Israel in October — apparently the first U.S. academic institution to agree to such a request.
All of this is taking place during a US election year, raising questions about whether young voters – who are key to Democrats – will support President Joe Biden’s re-election efforts, given his unwavering support for Israel.
Nationwide campus protests began in Columbia on April 17 to protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas’ launch of 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.
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.
Other events
The chaotic scenes at UCLA came just hours after New York police stormed a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday evening, breaking up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school .
New Hampshire police made arrests and took down tents at Dartmouth College and Oregon officers came to the Portland State University campus as school officials sought to end to the occupation of the library which began on Monday.
In Madison, Wisconsin, a melee broke out early Wednesday after police with shields removed all but one tent and shoved protesters. Four officers were injured, including one officer who was hit in the head with a skateboard, authorities said. Four were accused of attacking law enforcement.
Protest encampments elsewhere have been evacuated by police, leading to arrests, or closed voluntarily at schools across the United States, including City College of New York, Fordham University in New York, State of Portland, Oregon, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona and Tulane University in New Orleans.
Grub5
