Police began breaking up an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles early on Thursday morning, in the latest clampdown on student demonstrators across the country.
Officers in riot gear removed tents and obstacles and detained protesters, leading them away with zip ties around their wrists, following disruption that has led the university to cancel classes. They used “flash-bang” devices to disorient people in the crowds, local media reported.
The intervention came as several colleges across the country have taken the unusual step of authorising police to enter campuses, break up demonstrations against Israel’s offensive in Gaza and make arrests, sparking memories of the response to protests against the Vietnam war in 1968.
New York police made 282 arrests at Columbia University on Tuesday night amid protests that mayor Eric Adams blamed on “outside agitators”.
Columbia has been a focal point of demonstrations triggered by the war between Hamas and Israel, but the university’s move to suspend students and call in police sparked copycat occupations and clampdowns in the US and at universities abroad.
At UCLA, tensions escalated after clashes broke out when counter-protesters stormed the pro-Palestinian encampment early on Wednesday. The university has said that the encampment was “unlawful” and warned that students involved could face sanctions including dismissal.
The university moved classes online for the remainder of the week and warned faculty, staff and students to avoid the protest area during the “evacuation”.
Groups of students around the country have been demanding in many cases that their universities divest their funds from Israel-linked companies, but the demonstrations have also sparked incidents of antisemitism and drawn criticism including from President Joe Biden.
Police intervened on Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, reports said, after incidents on Tuesday including arrests at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. More than 1,600 people have been arrested at 30 colleges across the US since April 18, according to a tally by the Associated Press.
The clashes at UCLA came after two weeks of controversy at the nearby University of Southern California, where administrators cancelled a graduation speech by the valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, a Muslim woman, citing security concerns.