UCLA: Police remove barricades from encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police began removing barricades and dismantling a fortified encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the University of California, Los Angeles early Thursday after hundreds of protesters. Disobeying police orders to leaveabout 24 hours after protesters stormed a tent encampment on campus.

Police detained several people on campus with their wrists tied with zip ties. The action came after officers spent hours threatening people over loud speakers with arrests if they did not disperse. Hundreds of people gathered on campus to cheer, both inside and outside a barricaded tent encampment.

As a police helicopter hovered overhead, flash bangs filled the air with bright lights and loud noises to confuse and frighten people. “Where were you last night?” demonstrators shouted. as the officers approached.

California Highway Patrol officers in face shields and protective vests stood with batons outstretched, helmets and gas masks chanting, “You want peace. We want justice. ”

Police systematically tore down the encampment’s barricades of plywood, pallets, metal fencing, and garbage cans, opening an opening into dozens of demonstrators’ tents. Police also began removing canopies and tents. Protesters held umbrellas like shields and faced off against dozens of police.

The police action came a day after UCLA administration stood by for several hours to stop an attack on protesters. The delay drew condemnation from Muslim students and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

On Wednesday, protesters rebuilt a makeshift fence around the tent as state police and campus police looked on.

tent encampment Number of demonstrators demanding that the university: stop doing business with Israel or the companies they say they support war in gaza An unprecedented student movement in this century spread to campuses across the country.Subsequent police crackdown Reproducing behavior from decades ago against a much larger protest movement protesting the Vietnam War.

In the Middle East, Iranian state television aired live footage of the police action, as did Qatar’s pan-Arab Al Jazeera satellite network. Live footage from Los Angeles was also shown on Israeli television networks.

The tense standoff at UCLA came after violence erupted at the same location one night, incited by counter-protesters.

The law enforcement presence and continued warnings are in contrast to scenes that unfolded the night before, when counter-protesters threw traffic cones, fired pepper spray, and broke down barriers to attack pro-Palestinian camps. there were. The fighting continued for several hours before police intervened, but no arrests were made. At least 15 demonstrators were injured, and authorities’ tepid response drew criticism from political leaders as well as Muslim students and advocacy groups.

By Wednesday afternoon, a small city had sprung up within the fortified encampment, filling the campus quad with hundreds of people and tents. As the sun set over the campus, some protesters offered Islamic prayers, while others chanted “We’re not leaving” and handed out goggles and surgical masks. Wearing helmets and scarves, they discussed the best way to deal with pepper spray and tear gas as someone sang through a megaphone.

Several people made homemade shields from plywood in case they clashed with police, who had formed a front line elsewhere on campus. “Who wants a shield when it comes to rubber bullets?” one protester shouted.

Outside the encampment, a large crowd of students, alumni and neighbors gathered on the campus steps to join in a pro-Palestinian chant. A group of students wearing T-shirts and holding placards supporting Israel and Jews demonstrated nearby.

As the night wore on, the crowd continued to grow as more and more police poured onto the campus.

Ray Williani, who lives nearby, said he came to UCLA Wednesday night to support pro-Palestinian protesters.

“We need to take a firm stand against it,” he said. “Get your act together.”

Elsewhere, police in New Hampshire announced they had arrested 90 people and removed tents at Dartmouth College, and in Oregon, police officers were arrested at a port in Oregon as school officials tried to end a library occupation that began Monday. I entered the Rand State University campus.

UCLA chaos came after NYPD broke into the building Anti-war demonstrators occupied Columbia University on Tuesday night and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the campus.

There have been at least 38 arrests at campus protests across the country since April 18, with more than 1,600 arrests at 30 schools, according to an Associated Press tally.

UCLA President Gene Block said in a statement that last night’s attack was carried out by a “group of instigators,” but did not provide details about the crowd or why administration or school police did not act sooner. There wasn’t.

“No matter what you think about the encampment, this attack on students, faculty, staff, and community members was completely unacceptable,” he said. “It shook our campus to its core.”

After California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the delay, Mr. Bullock promised to review the events of that night.

Michael Drake, head of the University of California System, ordered “an independent review of the university’s plans, its actions, and the response by law enforcement.”

“Communities need to feel that police are protecting them and not allowing them to harm others,” Rebecca Hussaini, chief of staff for the Islamic Public Affairs Council, said Wednesday at a press conference at the Los Angeles campus. “There is,” he said.

Speakers disputed the university’s statement that 15 people were injured and one hospitalized, saying the number taken to hospital was much higher. One student said a counter-protester hit him in the head with an object and had to go to the hospital.

Several students who spoke at the press conference said they had to rely on each other for help, not the police, when attacked, and that many in the pro-Palestinian camp remained peaceful and did not engage counter-protesters. Ta. UCLA canceled classes Wednesday.

A scram broke out early Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin in Madison after police with shields removed all but one tent and shoved protesters. Four police officers were injured, including a state trooper who was hit in the head with a skateboard, authorities said. The four were charged with assault on law enforcement.

All of this is unfolding in an election year in the United States, raising questions about whether the Democratic Party’s key young voters will support President Joe Biden’s re-election effort given his ardent support for Israel.

In rare cases, university officials or protest leaders agreements concluded To limit disruption to campus life and future life Opening ceremony.

At Brown University in Rhode Island, administrators agreed to consider a vote to divest from Israel in October. This is probably the first time an American university has agreed to such a request.

Nationwide campus demonstrations began in Colombia on April 17 to protest Israeli attacks in Gaza, following Hamas’s launch of deadly attacks in southern Israel on October 7. The militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israel, which has vowed to eradicate Hamas, has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health.

Israel and its supporters condemned the university protests anti-semiticMeanwhile, Israel’s critics say it uses these claims to silence its opponents. Some protesters have been caught on camera making anti-Semitic remarks and threats of violence, but protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say this is in support of Palestinian rights. It claims to be a peaceful movement aimed at protesting the war.

Meanwhile, the City University of New York, Fordham University in New York, Portland State University in Oregon, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, and Tulane University in Arizona and New Orleans.

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Offenhartz and Frederick reported from New York. This report includes John Antczak, Christopher L. Keller, Lisa Bauman, Cedar Attanasio, Jonathan Mathis, Stephanie Dazio, Jay C. Hong, Colleen Long, Karen Matthews, and Sarah Brumfield. Associated Press reporters from around the country, including Carolyn Thompson and Phillip, contributed. Marcelo, Corey Williams, and Felicia Fonseca.