LOS ANGELES (NewsNation) — The Los Angeles Police Department arrived in riot gear at the University of California, Los Angeles early Wednesday morning after violent clashes escalated between the pro-Palestinian encampment and counter-protesters.
“At the request of UCLA, due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus, the LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD, and other law enforcement agencies, to restore order and maintain public safety,” LAPD HQ posted on X.
NewsNation correspondent Nancy Loo reported that hundreds of LAPD, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol had separated the two protest groups for now. She also reported that the officers were equipped with gas masks.
Violent clashes at UCLA
Counter-protesters reportedly attempted to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment on UCLA’s campus, NBC News reported. This set off a chain reaction of violent encounters, including one person being dragged and beaten in the early hours of Wednesday, the report said.
The clashes escalated after the university declared the protest “unlawful and violates university policy,” urging demonstrators to leave encampments on campus.
UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block also urged protesters to clear the encampments separately from the university, condemning the violent actions of some.
“Many of the demonstrators, as well as counter-demonstrators who have come to the area, have been peaceful in their activism. But the tactics of others have frankly been shocking and shameful,” Block said in a statement. “UCLA supports peaceful protest, but not activism that harms our ability to carry out our academic mission and makes people in our community feel bullied, threatened and afraid.”
Politicians monitoring UCLA’s situation
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the violence between protest groups on X, writing that LAPD had arrived on campus to help control the clashes.
“The violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable,” she wrote on X.
A spokesperson for Bass posted on X that the mayor responded to the university’s request for support, dispatching LAPD officers to the campus. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office also posted on X, saying his office is monitoring the situation.
“Law enforcement leaders are in contact this evening and resources are being mobilized,” the governor’s office wrote on X.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also responded to the protests Wednesday morning. He said that Gaza is “the world’s dominant issue.”
“The issue of Gaza must not be allowed to be downgraded from being the world’s dominant issue. Pressure on the Zionist regime must keep increasing day by day,” Khamenei wrote on X.
This development comes just hours after the New York Police Department arrested and cleared about 30 to 40 protesters from a barricaded building on Columbia University’s campus in Manhattan.
Columbia University issued a shelter-in-place order Tuesday evening as scores of police officers in riot gear swarmed near the New York campus while protesters continued to occupy a building to demonstrate against the Israel-Hamas war.
Demonstrations across the nation
Universities across the U.S. have been grappling with how to deal with encampments as commencement ceremonies approach, with some continuing negotiations and others turning to force and ultimatums that have resulted in clashes with police.
The number of arrests at campuses nationwide is approaching 1,000 as the final days of class wrap up.
The outcry is forcing colleges to reckon with their financial ties to Israel, as well as their support for free speech. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.
Protesters have said, though, that those being antisemitic do not represent them and pointed out that many Jewish students are joining them in their cause.
Some student demonstrators held signs saying “Jews for Free Palestine” or “Jews for Palestine,” while pictures on social media circulated of Passover seders being held at the encampments.
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Author: Devan Markham
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