United States: Police dismantle barricades of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA

Police removed barricades on Thursday and began dismantle a camp of pro-Palestinian protesters on the UCLA campus after hundreds of protesters defied police orders to leave, about 24 hours after counterprotesters attacked the campus encampment.

The early morning intervention occurred after the agents They threatened over loudspeakers for hours that they would make arrests if people did not disperse. Hundreds of people had gathered on campus, both inside and around the entrenched camp in a show of support.

Police helicopters could be heard flying over the area and the explosion of stun grenades, which produce a flash of light and a loud noise to disorient and stun people, as the police advanced and people chanted “where were you last night.”

Police methodically dismantled the barricade of plywood, pallets, metal fences and trash containers, and made a path toward dozens of protester tents. The police also began removing pergolas and tents.

Protesters held umbrellas as a shield in front of dozens of police officers. Some warned their fellow protesters to have water ready in case police used tear gas or other irritants.

The night before, police and officials at the University of California, Los Angeles waited hours before stopping the attack by counterprotesters. That delay was condemned by Muslim students and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Protesters had rebuilt barriers around their tents Wednesday afternoon as state and campus police looked on.

The protest camps that demand universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza have spread across campuses across the country, in a student movement that had not been seen this century. The police response has been similar to that of several decades ago against much larger movements protesting the Vietnam War.

In the Middle East, Iranian state television broadcast live images of the police intervention, as did the Qatari pan-Arab network Al Jazeera. Live images from Los Angeles were also broadcast on Israeli television stations.

The tense standoff at UCLA occurred the night after counterprotesters instigated violence at the same location.

The police presence and continued warnings were a contrast to the scenes the night before, when counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestinian camp, throwing down traffic cones, spraying tear gas and tearing down barriers. Clashes continued for several hours before police intervened, although no arrests were made. At least 15 protesters suffered injuries, and the authorities’ lukewarm response was criticized by political leaders, Muslim students and activist groups.

In other places, Police made arrests in New Hampshire and removed tents at Dartmouth College, while in Oregon officers arrived at the Portland State University campus while those responsible for the center tried to put an end to the occupation of the library that began on Monday.

The chaotic scenes at UCLA came just hours after New York police stormed a building occupied by anti-war protesters on Tuesday night. Columbia University, dispersing a protest that had paralyzed the faculty.

A brawl broke out in Madison early Wednesday after police with shields removed all the tents. except one and they pushed the protesters. Four officers were injured, including a state trooper who was hit in the head with a skateboard, authorities said. Four people were accused of attacking security forces.

All of this comes during an election year in the United States, raising questions about whether younger voters will back President Joe Biden’s re-election bid, given his government’s strong support for Israel.

The Trustees at Brown University in Rhode Island agreed to consider a vote on divesting from Israel in October, apparently the first American university to accept such a lawsuit.

Student demonstrations began in Columbia on April 17 to protest the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which followed the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7. The militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israel promised to eradicate Hamas and has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, other protest encampments were cleared by police, resulting in arrests, or voluntarily set up at universities across the country, including the City College of New York, Fordham University in New York, State University of Portland in Oregon, Northern Arizona in Flagstaff and Tulane in New Orleans.