Operation to evict a pro-Palestinian camp at UCLA
Los Angeles Police began the operation to evict a pro-Palestinian camp at UCLA, where hundreds of demonstrators against the war in Gaza resisted the first attempts.
During operations to dismantle barricades at the protest camp, clashes and arrests occurred.
The officers’ actions began in the early hours of Thursday, May 2, when police fired flares over the camp that caused loud explosions, according to the Los Angeles Times.
CNN reported several previous police attempts to penetrate the area where protesters remained barricaded without success.
California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers detained several protesters, while others continued to resist, using fire extinguishers against the officers.
Thus, police methodically cleared the pro-Palestinian camp at UCLA, barricading the camp with plywood, metal fencing and trash cans, and made an opening into dozens of protesters’ tents.
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The eviction of pro-Palestinian camp at UCLA
Police also began tearing down canopies and tents.
Protesters held umbrellas as shields as they confronted dozens of officers.
Amid the eviction of the pro-Palestinian camp at UCLA, some of the protesters warned fellow protesters to be prepared with water in case police launched tear gas or other irritants.
As police helicopters flew overhead, the sound of stun grenades, which produce a bright light and loud noise to disorient and stun people, could be heard.
As police carried out the operation, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog criticized American universities for rioting on their campuses over Israel’s war in Gaza, saying these institutions were “tainted by hatred and anti-Semitism.”
The officers arrived equipped with riot gear, dismantled a plywood barrier that protesters had erected around their settlement in Dickson Plaza.
This confrontation followed a protracted tension with the anti-Israel protesters, culminating at around 1:54 a.m. local time.
Despite police intervention, law enforcement was forced to withdraw from the area, at which point the clashes resumed.
The protesters, who had built the plywood wall as a fortification measure, responded with cheers to the police retreat, using the moment to quickly reinstall the barrier.
This incident at UCLA is notable for the determination of the pro-Palestinian protesters in the face of police escalation.
“It’s about to go down,” was the message prior to the police operation, according to reports from Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, who also noted that law enforcement was expected to enter the encampment that morning after several calls for protesters to vacate the area.
The defensive structure included plywood walls surrounding most of the encampment, situated behind a railing, where protesters were positioned with strobe lights and Palestinian flags in a clear symbol of resistance.
“The police intervention was not only repelled by the protesters, but culminated in the arrest of at least one person, according to the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student newspaper. This event underscores the complexity of the clashes and the volatile atmosphere on campus, where the anti-Israel demonstration was met with strong opposition from authorities.
Pro-Palestinian students at UCLA had previously erected a wall around their camp in preparation for an anticipated police raid, in a clear demonstration of their resolve and preparedness for possible confrontations.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the violence “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable” in a post on social networking site X and said officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were on the scene.
California Highway Patrol troopers also reportedly attended. The university said it had requested the assistance.
