Police broke down wooden barricades and entered the “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) early Thursday and arrested dozens of activists after a week of violent disruption.
As Breitbart News reported, police warned activists on Wednesday to leave the area and began massing near Royce Hall, with prison buses on nearby Wilshire Blvd. Hundreds of protesters came to UCLA to “defend” the encampment.
After a tense standoff that lasted for several hours, with protesters making speeches, leading “Free Palestine” chants, and singing communist songs, police moved in, with California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers leading the charge.
Some of the activists escaped as the police officers began destroying wooden barricades and tents. But others locked arms and faced off against the police. Some activists fired chemical irritants or flashed strobe lights at the officers.
Police clash with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Police deployed a heavy presence on US university campuses on May 1 after forcibly clearing away some weeks-long protests against Israel’s war with Hamas. Dozens of police cars patrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles campus in response to violent clashes overnight when counter-protesters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian students. (Photo by Etienne LAURENT / AFP) (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)
Eventually, the police prevailed, leading activists away in plastic handcuffs or herding them toward the edge of the quad despite their linked-arm formations. Protesters chanted and taunted officers throughout the police operation.
Police make an arrest as they face-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Police deployed a heavy presence on US university campuses on May 1 after forcibly clearing away some weeks-long protests against Israel’s war with Hamas. Dozens of police cars patrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles campus in response to violent clashes overnight when counter-protesters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian students. (Photo by Etienne LAURENT / AFP) (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)
The encampment lasted a week. UCLA security protected it and delegated security authority to the activists until pro-Israel vigilantes attacked the encampment Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, prompting authorities to act. (Local authorities have promised to prosecute the vigilantes.)
In the interim, activists assaulted journalists and blocked UCLA students, including Jewish students, from accessing the campus and its facilities in the area of the encampment. They also displayed and shouted slogans such as “From the river to the sea/Palestine will be free,” and “Intifada revolution,” which Jews consider antisemitic because they refer to the destruction of Israel and terrorism against Jews.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
