UCLA: Riot police descend on pro-Palestine encampment after students refuse to disperse
Police began forming lines near the encampment and warned protesters over loudspeakers that anyone who refused to leave could face arrest.
The Daily Bruin reported that officers in tactical gear had entered the Palestine solidarity encampment at Dickson Plaza "with batons out".
Some protesters were seen donning hard hats, goggles and respirator masks in anticipation of the raid a day after the university declared the encampment unlawful.
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Hundreds of other pro-Palestinian activists who were assembled outside the tent city jeered police with shouts of "all cops are bastards," some banging on drums and waving Palestinian flags, as officers marched onto the campus grounds.
The heavy police presence, which continued into Thursday, was in stark contrast to the events of Tuesday, when some of the worst violence seen since students across the US intensified their protests in support of Gaza unfolded.
More than a dozen people were injured when a large group of Israel supporters attacked the encampment with sticks, poles, bear spray and fireworks.
Video footage of the violence included some middle-aged Israel supporters hurling racial slurs as they threw punches at pro-Palestinian protesters.
UCLA chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that “a group of instigators” carried out Tuesday night’s attack, but did not provide details about the crowd or why the administration and school police did not act sooner.
For over two weeks, UCLA, along with other universities across the US, have been the scene of protests against Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed at least 34,500 Palestinians, most of them children and women.
Student activists are demanding their institutions commit to divestment from Israeli companies and that the US stops bankrolling Israel's bloody campaign.
Israel is currently facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice for its conduct in Gaza, which includes mass bombardment of civilian areas, summary executions and the withdrawal of food and other aid into the territory.
Earlier on Tuesday evening, New York City police arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators holed-up in an academic building at Columbia University and removed a protest encampment the Ivy League school had sought to dismantle for nearly two weeks.
Columbia University's president, Minouche Shafik, had requested police help to remove the protesters who had occupied the institution's Hamilton Hall, renaming it after Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl killed by Israel in January.
"With the utmost regret, we request the NYPD’s help to clear all individuals from Hamilton Hall and all campus encampments," Shafik wrote in a letter to the New York Police Department.
According to the letter, Shafik requested that police officers remain on site until 17 May to prevent a resumption of protests.
The university's decision triggered widespread condemnation with New York City Congressman Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat, condemning the police's actions.
"These are students. In no world should our kids be met with guns when using their constitutional right to peacefully assemble," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.