UCLA resumes ‘limited’ operations after police dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment; Dozens detained

A historic, weeklong protest at UCLA in solidarity with war-battered Gaza was over Thursday morning, May 2, just hours after waves of police in riot gear dismantled demonstrators’ massive encampment outside Royce Hall and detained dozens from a crowd estimated in the low thousands.

By daybreak, some students, a few draped in and carrying Palestinian flags, were returning to the site, but by shortly after 8 a.m., groups of LAPD officers were clearing them out from the Quad area near the campus’s Royce Hall, the site where much of the protesting occurred.

Students vowed that their efforts “were not over.” But with hundreds removed, the site was a mess on Thursday morning, as the remnants of a week of protest — fueled by demands for a cease fire in Gaza and that UCLA divest from investments that fund Israel’s war against Hamas — and violence emerged in clearer view.

Scenes from the aftermath of mass arrests at UCLA this morning. The scene is eerily quiet punctuated by occasional cries of “Free Palestine” as a few lingering protesters wander through the encampment pic.twitter.com/Dcnkikkds1

— Clara Harter (@_ClaraHarter) May 2, 2024

The front exterior of historic Royce Hall, the campus’s iconic symbol, was tagged with extensive graffiti, some of it laced with profanity. Garbage and debris remained strewn through the remains of the encampment.

The scene

An eerie silence hung over the remains of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment at 7:30 a.m, punctuated by the odd cry of “Free Palestine” as a few straggling protesters picked through the debris.

To the casual onlooker, the scene may look like the aftermath of an epic music festival with tents, food and clothing scattered across the Royce Quad.

However, a closer look revealed keffiyeh, Palestinian flags and masks strewn about — signaling the more serious and political nature of the occupation, which lasted for seven days.

At 8:30 a.m. LAPD officers returned to the encampment zone and ordered everyone to leave the area.

Around this time, Ryan, an exhausted yet enlivened 22-year-old student protester at UCLA, stumbled back on campus, his wrists covered in red slashes from where zip ties cut into his circulation.

He was among the many students arrested by California Highway Patrol in the very early hours of Thursday morning.

Kenza, a student media liaison for the encampment, said that 132 protesters were taken into custody. Law enforcement officials have not confirmed this number.

Both Kenza and Ryan requested their last names not be shared due to safety concerns.

“I was on the frontlines and the cops hit me with their batons. They grabbed me and I did not resist arrest,” said Ryan.

Ryan said he was ziptied and transported with other protesters to an LA County Sheriff’s station in Downtown LA, where he was given a citation for unlawful assembly and then released.

On one hand, he felt dispirated that UCLA worked with law enforcement to clear the encampment and arrest students.

“The school would rather physically intimidate their students and eventually hurt their students, rather than even consider divestment,” he said. “That is what’s so frustrating.”

But on the other hand, he felt more determined than ever to continue pressuring the university to meet students’ demands. These include divesting from companies that do business with Israel, severing ties with Israeli universities and calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

“Of course we’ll be back, we’ll always be back, we’re never going to stop fighting for Palestine and for Palestinian liberation,” he said. “The student movement lives on.”

Police move in

The law enforcement offensive began roughly nine hours after dispersal orders were formally issued around 6 p.m. Wednesday. The announcement was rebroadcast every 30 minutes into the evening hours.

But the announcements in themselves did not move protesters.

Outside the encampment Wednesday evening, a crowd of students, alumni and neighbors gathered on campus steps, joining in pro-Palestinian chants. A group of students holding signs and wearing T-shirts in support of Israel and Jewish people demonstrated nearby.

Police clear returning demonstrators from the aftermath of a week of protest at UCLA on Thursday, May 2, 2023 (Photo by Clara Harter) (Photo by Clara Harter)

The crowd continued to grow as the night wore on as more and more officers poured onto campus.

The arrival of the hundreds of CHP officers broke the stalemate, though the officers faced some resistance and there were some scuffles with demonstrators. Officers also had to deal with demonstrators shining bright flashlights into their eyes. The sound of apparent flash bangs or fireworks could be heard as police moved in, and smoke rose from the scene. Journalists at the scene suggested some of the smoke may actually have come from fire extinguishers.

Some demonstrators were detained and led away in zip ties, with the student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, reporting dozens were in custody as of 3:39 a.m.

But a substantial number of protesters stayed behind, apparently resigning themselves to being arrested in the name of their cause. Police methodically began detaining protesters one at a time, using zip-ties to secure their hands behind their backs then walking them out of the area to be processed and eventually loaded into sheriff’s department buses.

A student liaison to the media said Thursday that 132 arrests had been made.

There was no immediate word on any injuries to officers or protesters suffered during the operation.

Violence erupted Tuesday at the campus, just hours after UCLA declared the pro-Palestinian protesters’ days-long encampment “unlawful.” Gathered counter-protesters began firing fireworks at the other side, flashing strobe lights and blaring the amplified sounds of babies crying about 11 p.m., according to social media reports.

In the aftermath, UCLA officials have vowed an investigation into what some students and advocacy groups say was a lax response and inadequate planning amid simmering tensions.

The aftermath of a week of protest at UCLA on Thursday, May 2, 2023 (Photo by Clara Harter)

UCLA officials say all campus operations will be “limited” Thursday and Friday, and all normally in-person classes were “required to pivot to remote tomorrow and Friday.”

“Employees are encouraged to work remotely wherever possible and should consult with their supervisors. Events and research activities are encouraged to go remote or be rescheduled wherever possible.”

The hospital and health system will remain open. UCLA Extension classes will continue, except for those scheduled on the UCLA campus, which will “either be moved to other locations or online.”

Biden says ‘order must prevail’

UCLA’s protests are part of nationwide student movement that began at Columbia, in New York, in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.

Since the Columbia demonstrations, the protests have grown unlike any student movement seen this century, reminiscent of the images of police crackdowns decades ago amid protests agains the Vietnam War.

Law enforcement has arrested more than 1,000 people.

President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the right to protest but insisted that “order must prevail” as college campuses across the country face unrest over the war in Gaza.

“Dissent is essential for democracy,” he said at the White House. “But dissent must never lead to disorder.”

Tensions have been building for days as demonstrators refuse to remove campus encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized attention from politicians and the media.

Biden said he did not support calls to send in the National Guard. He also said that the protests have not prompted him to reconsider his approach to the war. The Democratic president has occasionally criticized Israel’s conduct but continued to supply it with weapons.

His remarks, occurring shortly before he left the White House for a trip to North Carolina, came after days of silence about the protests. Republicans have tried to turn the scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel, and Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to “score political points.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed.

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The scene

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