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In a swift-moving, pre-dawn operation three days before graduation ceremonies begin, USC campus police and LAPD officers in riot gear cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment from the center of campus Sunday as protesters beat drums and chanted.
No arrests were reported and no violence erupted during the police sweep, a university spokesperson said.
“Earlier today, the University of Southern California Department of Public Safety (DPS) successfully removed the illegal encampment rebuilt on the university’s campus. It was necessary to request the Los Angeles Police Department to respond to provide security as this was carried out peacefully,” Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications, said in a statement.
“We want to thank LAPD for assisting DPS in clearing the encampment and restoring normalcy for students and community as quickly and safely as possible,” he said. “We will share more information with our community later today.”
A pro-Palestinian supporter waits outside the gate of USC after being kicked out of campus as police secured the USC campus.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
At 4:17 a.m. USC issued an alert saying the LAPD had arrived and that people should leave the park area in the center of campus. Officials gave demonstrators the option to leave before being arrested. A group of about 30 protesters left the encampment as LAPD pushed them toward the university’s Jefferson Boulevard entrance.
“Free, free Palestine,” demonstrators chanted when they faced police at the perimeter, beating drums as helicopters hovered overhead.
“Please show up to USC right now. They won’t let you in but we can mobilize folks around the perimeter,” said a live video posted by demonstrators to the USC Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation page on Instagram at 4:30 a.m.
About 5 a.m., police entered the core of the encampment and began dismantling tents, leaving behind posters and the makeshift barriers. A perimeter was set up outside the university park area where media and protesters gathered. By 6 a.m. the encampment area appeared empty and quiet. Los Angeles police had largely left and about 33 campus police officers patrolled the area as trucks and workers hauled away the encampment debris. DPS chief Lauretta Hill was seen giving a fist bump to remaining officers.
On their Instagram account protesters said, “We will be back. Free Palestine.”
This was the second sweep of a USC encampment, unfolding as graduation activities are set to begin Wednesday and thousands of guests begin arriving on campus. Los Angeles police arrested 93 people on April 24 on suspicion of trespassing late last month and cleared the encampment at the center of campus.
LAPD officers cleared USC’s encampment at Alumni Park by 6 a.m. Sunday.
Devin Griffiths, an associate professor of English and comparative literature, said it was “disappointing that the LAPD was invited back onto campus after many faculty strongly expressed their anger and worry at the invitation of the LAPD a little over a week ago.”
Griffiths joined a faculty march last week in support of student activists and is among more than 380 faculty members who had recently called for a no confidence vote in USC’s top leadership for its handling of campus tensions.
He said he was “hugely relieved to hear that apparently no one was hurt and no one was arrested. This obviously won’t end the conflict over what’s been going on in Gaza and it will not stop the faculty from attempting to hold our administration to account for their serious errors around the commencement and their handling of protests on campus. There’s more work to be done.”
After protesters reestablished a campsite last weekend USC President Carol Folt indicated in a campus-wide letter published Friday that the encampment would not be permitted to remain much longer.
“The university is legally obligated to ensure that students, faculty, and staff can move freely throughout our campus while pursuing their studies, work, and research,” Folt said. “Every part of our campuses, including Alumni Park, must be fully accessible and free from vandalism and harassment.”
The encampment at Alumni Park had grown to at least 40 tents and roughly 50 people, according to student organizers.
Student journalists at USC Annenberg reported that Nancy Alonzo, assistant director of the USC Village Residential Colleges, visited the edge of the campsite Saturday afternoon and read another letter aloud to members of the student movement.
“The encampment has to go down, as we have mentioned before, your encampment and acts of vandalism and the theft of university property violates policies and the law,” Alonzo reportedly said. “These policies actually exist to protect the safety and security of every member of our community and we must enforce these policies consistently as we have always done. And then we also set up an alternative free speech area that’s available to you all and you can move the encampment there.”
Tents set up by pro-Palestine protest encampment in Alumni Park on the campus of the University of Southern California on May 4. Police cleared the encampment early Sunday morning.
(EricThayer/For Los Angeles Times)
Members of the student coalition said they were not permitted to take a picture of Alonzo’s letter or to receive a physical copy.
Students in the camp, who call themselves the Divest From Death Coalition, said they are not interested in relocating to the designated free speech area, behind the Leavey Library south of West 34th Street in a lesser traveled campus area.
“Protest locations cannot be dictated by the people in power because then it’s no longer the freedom to protest and assemble,” said the encampment spokesperson, who did not want to identify themselves because of fear of retaliation from the USC administration and students opposed to their activism.
The spokesperson described Saturday evening as “calm” and “chill.” During the interview, students were heard cheering in the background. An Instagram story posted by Trojans for Palestine showed students sitting in Alumni Park on picnic blankets and orange Home Depot paint buckets, clapping and singing, “We shall not be moved.”
But protesters were ready for arrest, the spokesperson said.
“There is fear in the air. There is confidence. There is passion. We are emboldened to stand up for the people in Gaza,” they said. “No matter how this occupation goes down, it’s still a win for us because we have caused a disruption and discomfort to the USC administration. We have ended business as usual for the past few weeks.”
The decision to clear the first camp sparked anger, coming after USC barred valedictorian Asna Tabassum from speaking at its May 10 commencement — a first in the university’s 143-year history — over unspecified safety threats. The move came after pro-Israel groups criticized Tabassum for a link on her Instagram profile directing people to a pro-Palestinian website.
That led officials to cancel commencement all together.
But on Friday, USC announced plans for a “Trojan Family” graduation event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The event will take place Thursday at 8:30 p.m., USC announced on Thursday. The university promises a drone show, fireworks, surprise performances and the Trojan Marching Band. The university also promised a special gift for the class of 2024.
USC is the latest university to take action against camps.
At least 25 people were arrested early Tuesday at Cal Poly Humboldt. The same night at UCLA, a large group wearing black outfits and white masks attacked pro-Palestinian protesters, hurling objects and attempting to tear down barricades surrounding the encampment. The violence prompted criticism over the university’s handling of the protests.
By Thursday, more than 200 had been arrested after police moved onto UCLA’s Westwood campus to push protesters out and begin dismantling the camp.
Pro-Palestinian protesters were calling for an end to Israeli military actions in Gaza and divestment from Israel.
Encampments remain in full swing at California campuses, including UC Irvine, Occidental College, Sacramento State, San Francisco State and others.
At least two other Southern California colleges — Chapman University and Cal State L.A. — joined the movement this week. Students at Cal State Long Beach held a rally Thursday, but have said there are no plans for an encampment.
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