Live Updates: Police Clear U.C.L.A. Encampment and Arrest Protesters
Officers in riot gear moved in before dawn to dismantle a pro-Palestinian protest camp, as authorities across the U.S. take tougher action against campus demonstrations.
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Pinned
Police officers in riot gear moved in before dawn Thursday and cleared out a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, detaining dozens of demonstrators, as authorities across the United States step up efforts to dismantle the protests that have gripped campuses nationwide.
Officers tore through barricades, pulled up tents and corralled protesters at U.C.L.A., leading some away with their wrists zip-tied. The California Highway Patrol confirmed that multiple people had been arrested. After about two hours, the police had largely cleared the encampment, which was littered with mounds of shattered wood, collapsed tents and destroyed furniture.
As protesters chanted and sprayed fire extinguishers at them, police officers moved in on the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the early hours of Thursday, tearing down its barricades, arresting dozens of people and clearing out the tents that had dominated the center of campus for days.
The chaotic scenes were part of a tense, hourslong back-and-forth between protesters and police that had been building after violent clashes a day earlier — involving counterprotesters who attacked the encampment — prompted administrators to call in law enforcement.
The president of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire said that 90 people had been removed from a protest encampment Wednesday night, including many unaffiliated with the university. In a statement, the president, Sian Leah Beilock, acknowledged protests as an important form of speech, but said that opinions can “never be used to justify taking over Dartmouth’s shared spaces.”
At least 132 demonstrators were arrested overnight at the University of California, Los Angeles, according to Officer Erik Larsen of the California Highway Patrol. Those arrested would be handed over to the university’s police department, he said.
At Portland State University in Oregon, police have started encircling the campus library, which demonstrators seized and fortified in recent days to prepare for a standoff. Officers have closed several blocks surrounding the building and are using a loudspeaker to call for those inside the library to leave.
The police appear to have cleared the encampment of protesters and detained dozens of people. A group of about 100 demonstrators remain in the area, chanting, “We will rebound.” The encampment is littered with mounds of shattered wood, collapsed tents and destroyed furniture.
Police have given another dispersal warning, telling people to leave or face arrest. A group of about 40 protesters have linked arms in the middle of the encampment and refused to leave. Others are trying to refortify it with metal barricades, wooden pallets and traffic cones.
A California Highway Patrol officer just shot something toward the protesters, but it was unclear what was in the canister he fired. Protesters shouted, “Don’t shoot!” and “We’re just students!”
An hour after police moved in, the main barricade that protected the encampment is mostly gone. In its place is a line of people who are linking arms and chanting, “Don’t attack students!” and “Where were you yesterday?” — a reference to an attack on the camp by around 200 counterprotesters on Tuesday night.
Police are now tearing through barricades on one side of the encampment outside Royce Hall at U.C.L.A. Officers are pulling apart plywood and other materials that protesters had used to build a wall around them. The other side of the encampment appears to be holding for now.
Police officers tried again to enter the staircase leading into the U.C.L.A. encampment, but protesters blocked them with wooden pallets and homemade shields. Hundreds of protesters surrounded the officers for several minutes before some officers appeared to pull back. Protesters chanted: “Cops go home!”
Officers went into the encampment using a staircase that protesters had been using to enter and exit. A loud bang was heard as they entered. Officers set up a line and protesters quickly surrounded them, taking video, linking arms and chanting, “Free, free Palestine.” So far, police and protesters have not engaged with each other.
A deal struck by Northwestern University officials and pro-Palestinian demonstrators brought an end to a protest encampment on campus but drew harsh criticism from Jewish leaders and students on Wednesday.
The agreement, announced this week, included a promise by the university to be more transparent about its financial holdings. In turn, demonstrators removed the tent camp they built last week at Deering Meadow, a stretch of lawn on campus.
Police officers in riot gear arrested pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Fordham University’s Manhattan campus on Wednesday evening, the third university in New York City to face mass arrests in the past 24 hours.
The officers, wearing helmets and carrying batons, entered the Leon Lowenstein Center, where earlier on Wednesday protesters had erected a modest encampment inside. The protesters who were arrested did not appear to resist, and they stood facing a large crowd of demonstrators while the officers put their hands into zip ties behind their backs.
As students continue to protest Israel’s assault on Gaza, the flagpoles at universities have become the latest point of conflict.
Students have raised the Palestinian flag at central locations on several campuses across the country, in some cases replacing American flags. This happened on Tuesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Follow our live updates on the campus protests.
It was an example of a tolerant campus, where a burgeoning pro-Palestinian encampment might be left alone even as student protesters were arrested across the nation. Free speech would be supported as long as things remained peaceful, officials said last week."
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