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The historic campus of UCLA was left “trashed” on Thursday morning in the wake of the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian encampment overnight, KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos reports.
In a chaotic scene, officers from multiple agencies began tearing down the encampment around 3 a.m., several hours after the initial dispersal order was given at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The order came after confrontations between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters became violent on Tuesday.
Officers appeared to use force on the protesters in the early morning hours. Reports of “flashbangs” and the use of rubber bullets flooded social media on Thursday.
The law enforcement raid on the encampment lasted well into the daylight hours on Thursday morning as detainees awaited transportation to county jail. According to CHP Officer Alec Pereyda, arrests were “in the hundreds.”
In-person classes were canceled for the rest of the week.
Remnants of the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at UCLA on May 2, 2024. (KTLA)
The aftermath of the raid left a massive mess of debris from the encampment on campus. Dismantled tents, leftover food and trash scattered the quad area of campus after officers forcibly cleared the encampment.
“Remember students are going through midterms right now. It’s a facility [Powell Library] that many would be accessing to study in, but of course, it is completely trashed,” Ramos said.
Meanwhile, the walls and floors of Royce Hall were vandalized by spray paint reading phrases such as “from the river to the sea” and “Free Palestine,” alongside more explicit and profane messages.
Workers clean up the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian students, in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles – the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
