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Less than 24 hours after a violent attack on a pro-Palestinian camp at UCLA, authorities appeared poised to shut down the encampment by declaring an unlawful assembly.
The move comes after UCLA Chancellor Gene Block announced Tuesday the university’s intentions. The University of California has generally taken a lighter touch in handling protests than USC, Columbia and other campuses that have called in police, who have arrested hundreds of students.
In a statement earlier Tuesday, University of California President Michael V. Drake said he “fully” supported UCLA’s action. UC must be “as flexible as it can” in matters of free speech, he said, but must act in cases in which student learning and expression are blocked, university functions disrupted and safety threatened.
On Wednesday evening, students lined up arm in arm in an effort to prevent law enforcement from reaching the encampment.
Down the hill from the tents, more than two dozen vehicles from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department lined up. Officers in riot gear faced the students.
“They won’t arrest you before giving a dispersal order,” one student called out to the crowd.
“If you don’t want to be arrested, don’t stand in the front,” another student organizer shouted.
In recent weeks, UCLA, like other universities across the country, has emerged as a hotbed of pro-Palestinian activism.
Students, faculty and staff have erected makeshift camps and demanded an end to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip and that their universities divest from companies that sell weapons or services to the Israel.
The demonstration at UCLA had been relatively mild compared with other campuses until Tuesday just before midnight.
That’s when a large group of pro-Israel counterdemonstrators wearing black outfits and white masks arrived and tried to tear down the barricades surrounding the encampment.
People inside the camp, some holding lumber and wearing goggles and helmets, rallied to defend the site’s perimeter.
Over several hours, counterdemonstrators hurled objects, including wood and a metal barrier, at the camp and those inside. Fights repeatedly broke out. Some tried to force their way into the camp, and the pro-Palestinian side used pepper spray to defend themselves. Fireworks were launched into the camp.
The attack went uncountered for three hours, until dozens of officers from the California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Police Department and other agencies arrived and restored order. The slow response sparked criticism and calls for investigations.
After 6 p.m. Wednesday, UCLA police announced over loudspeakers that protesters should clear the area “immediately” and that those who failed to do so would be subject to arrest.
Behind the plywood barricades of the encampment, the mood was anxious but not panicked. People were handing out respirators, masks and buckets to fill with water if needed to flush tear gas from eyes.
A woman handing out cookies, grapes and granola bars to protesters said, “It’s the revolution. You gotta eat.”
Another, who apparently wanted to end genocide without imperiling her future employment prospects, said she was “trying to get arrested but not a felony.”
Meanwhile, in the road across from the encampment, dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters flowed into the driving lanes in front of Dickson Plaza chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Others held a sign apparently expanding the goals of the protest: “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls got to go.”
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