LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police arrested pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses across the country overnight, most notably at the University of California, Los Angeles, where riots early Thursday sparked chaotic scenes as officers turned against a crowd of demonstrators. Arrests.
Police dismantled and dismantled protesters’ shelters at UCLA after hundreds of protesters Disobeyed orders to leaveSome of them formed a human chain and the police fired flash-bangs to disperse the crowd.
Many protesters were arrested and their hands tied with zip ties. Video footage from the morning showed some people sitting on the pavement with their hands behind their backs, police walking around and buses sitting nearby.
The move comes after hours of officers threatening arrests over loudspeakers if the crowd does not disperse. A crowd of more than 1,000 gathered in support on campus, inside and outside an internment tent camp. Protesters and the police engaged in shoving and scuffling as the authorities faced resistance. The video shows police removing the helmets and goggles some of the protesters were wearing while being detained.
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As police helicopters circled, the sound of flash-bangs created a bright light and loud noise that distracted and startled people. Protesters asked, “Where were you last night?” They chanted. On officers, UCLA administration and campus police took hours to respond when counter-protesters stormed the campus Tuesday night.
Tent camps Protesters calling universities Stop doing business with Israel Or companies claim support War in Gaza It has spread across campuses across the country like no other student movement this century. Police caning followed echoed the actions of decades earlier Against the largest protest movement against the Vietnam War.
AP reporter Jennifer King reports that protests and arrests continue on American college campuses.
Yale University police arrested four people Wednesday night after about 200 protesters marched on the school president’s home and the campus police station, school officials said.
Protesters ignored repeated warnings that they were violating policy by occupying parts of campus without permission, school officials said in a statement Thursday. Yale said two of those arrested were students.
The Yale Occupy Protest Group said campus police were violent during the arrests and did not issue earlier warnings. The group posted a video on Instagram showing officers taking one to the ground and pinning another to the pavement.
“Peaceful protest,” said Yale Occupy. “Police officers grabbed, shoved and brutalized people. Is this what you call keeping campus safe?”
In Oregon, police began evicting pro-Palestinian rights demonstrators from a library at Portland State University. Protesters have been occupying Miller Library since Monday.
They spray-paint graffiti on walls inside and stack or pile furniture to create barricades. University President Ann Cutt said in a statement late Wednesday that classes would resume, but Portland State said on social media Thursday morning that the campus would be closed due to the police operation.
Cutt said Wednesday that about 50 protesters evacuated Miller Library after administrators promised not to seek criminal charges, expulsion or other disciplinary action against attendees who walked out peacefully, but others — including non-students — remained. Portland police also said Thursday that 15 police vehicles were burned and damaged overnight; It was not immediately clear if it was related to the protest.
The protests at UCLA seemed to get the most attention. Iranian state television broadcast live footage of the police operation, as did Qatar’s pan-Arab Al Jazeera satellite network. Live footage from Los Angeles was also broadcast on Israeli television networks.
Hundreds of California Highway Patrol officers swarmed the compound early Thursday morning. Dressed in face shields and protective vests, wearing helmets and gas masks, they held out sticks to separate them from demonstrators who chanted “You want peace.” We want justice,” he said.
Police systematically dismantled barricades of plywood, planks, metal fences and trash cans and opened them to dozens of protesters’ tents. Officials began removing tents and tents. The number of protesters dwindled in the morning as some voluntarily left with their hands up and others were stopped by the police.
A law enforcement presence and constant warnings were in contrast to the scene Tuesday night when pro-Palestinians stormed the camp, throwing traffic cones, releasing pepper spray and tearing down barricades. Although no arrests were made, the fight continued for several hours before police moved in. At least 15 protesters were injured, and the authorities’ slow response drew criticism from political leaders and Muslim students and advocacy groups.
By Wednesday afternoon, a small town had risen inside a fortified camp, filled with hundreds of people and tents on the quad. Demonstrators rebuilt makeshift barricades around their tents while state and campus police looked on.
Some protesters said Muslim prayers as the sun set on campus, while others chanted “We’re not leaving” or passed around wearing goggles and surgical masks. They wore helmets and visors and discussed the best ways to handle pepper spray or tear gas while someone sang into a megaphone.
Outside the camp, a crowd of students, alumni and neighbors gathered on the campus steps, chanting pro-Palestinian chants. A group of students demonstrated nearby wearing T-shirts and carrying signs in support of Israel and the Jewish people.
The crowd increased as the night progressed as more officers poured into the premises.
Ray Viliani, who lives nearby, said he came to UCLA Wednesday evening to support the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
“We have to take a stand on that,” he said. “Enough is enough.”
UCLA Chancellor Gene Black promised to review Tuesday night’s events after California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the delayed law enforcement response. Michael Drake, president of the University of California system, ordered an “independent review of the university’s planning, its actions and law enforcement’s response.”
“The community needs to feel that the police are protecting them and that others cannot harm them,” Rebecca Hussaini, head of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, told a news conference on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, protest encampments elsewhere were cleared by police, resulting in arrests or voluntary closures at schools across the US in New York, including the City College of New York, Fordham University, Stony Brook University and the University at Buffalo. Others around the country are Portland State in Oregon, the University of New Hampshire in Durham, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and Tulane University in New Orleans.
Tuesday night, police said A building exploded Columbia University was occupied by anti-war protesters, breaking up a demonstration that paralyzed the school.
A scrum broke out early Wednesday morning at the University of Wisconsin in Madison after police removed all but one tent with shields and chased away protesters. Four officers were injured. Four people were charged with assaulting law enforcement.
In rare cases, university officials and protest leaders made contracts To control campus life and upcoming disturbances Opening Ceremonies. At Brown University in Rhode Island, administrators agreed in October to consider a vote to divest from Israel — apparently the first American college to agree to such a request.
Nationwide campus protests began in Colombia on April 17 against Israel’s attack on Gaza, followed by a deadly attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7. 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 country’s health ministry.
Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests Anti-Semitism, Israel’s critics say the charges are being used to silence the opposition. Although some protesters were caught on camera making anti-Semitic comments or threatening violence, organizers of the protest, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and opposing the war.
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Offenhartz and Frederick reported from New York. Julie Watson, Krista Fauria, John Antsak, Christopher L. Keller, Lisa Baumann, Cedar Attanasio, Jonathan Mattis, Stephanie Dassio, Jay C. Associated Press journalists from around the country contributed to this report, including Hong, Colin Long, Karen Matthews, Sarah Matthews, Julie Watson, Krista Fauria, John Antsak. Brumfield, Carolyn Thompson, Philip Marcello, Corey Williams, Eugene Johnson, and Felicia Fonseca.
