Los Angeles police arrived at the University of Southern California in riot gear Wednesday night and illegally cleared 93 people from an encampment set up in the center of campus to protest the Israeli-Hamas war. He was arrested on suspicion of trespassing.
“Shame on you! Shame on you!” demonstrators shouted as police led away students and off-campus activists.
The encampment in Alumni Park, where the university's main stage graduation ceremony is scheduled to be held next month, was set up before sunrise and by the afternoon the crowd had swelled, many wearing kaffiyeh and holding placards reading “Liberate Palestine” and “Liberated Zones.” Students with books participated while playing drums. And chanted.
The protests continued to be largely peaceful, but tensions rose at times, as police detained people and tried to move them off campus, and some in the crowd threw water bottles. The operation lasted several hours, and at 9 p.m., police removed protesters and onlookers from the campus and arrested those who remained or resisted.
Dozens of Los Angeles police officers gathered on campus starting at 4 p.m. and formed a line around the park. University of Southern California administrators said they are closing the gates to the campus and implementing ID checks to ensure only university personnel are allowed access. On Thursday, professors were given the option to teach classes online, and many chose to do so.
At 5 p.m., USC Department of Public Safety officers warned protesters for 10 minutes that they would be arrested if they did not disperse, after which protesters surrounded the officers, drowning out their warnings with chants.
Los Angeles Police Department officers, who had gathered on a nearby street, marched in line toward the campus entrance, armed with less-lethal weapons.
The students received an additional 10-minute warning, after which a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter loudspeaker sounded the following message: Please leave the area or you will be arrested for trespassing. ”
The demonstrators stood their ground, some walking out of Alumni Park, while others remained on the lawn, forming a circle with their arms linked. Thirty minutes later, Los Angeles Police Department officers entered the campus and surrounded the park.
“All we want is peace!” protesters shouted.
Some ran away as police moved forward to move them toward the north gate of campus.
Public safety officers confront pro-Palestinian demonstrators at USC on April 24.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Police officers lined up around the Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Center for International and Public Affairs, a classroom building next to Alumni Park. As police moved to detain one woman, protesters hurled water and chanted, “Free her!”
One of the officers momentarily raised a less-lethal weapon, prompting cries of “Oh!” Wow! Wow! “From the crowd.
The Los Angeles Police Department could not confirm whether rubber bullets were fired, but a video posted by Annenberg Media showed officers firing rubber bullets into a crowd outside campus.
By 6:30 p.m., police began arresting students and protesters who remained in a circle in Alumni Park, restraining them one by one with zip ties.
The arrested protesters were taken to an area near the fountain at Hahn Plaza, where officers received information. The protesters were then led away by a white Los Angeles Police Department van.
Surrounding demonstrators said to the arrested students: You are a hero! ”
Some of those arrested remained silent as they were escorted by police. Some chanted, “Free, free Palestine!”
Los Angeles Police Department officers are arrested after a protest against the Israeli-Palestinian war took place at USC on April 24th.
(Wally Scully/Los Angeles Times)
One of the officers at the scene said the protesters were being taken to the 77th Street Community Police Station. It is unclear whether some of those arrested were taken to other stations.
By 9:30 p.m., the crowd had largely dispersed, with few remaining on the streets adjacent to the campus, where locked gates separated them and police remained on guard.
The University of Southern California's camp-ins are among a growing number of student-led protests on college campuses since last week, when more than 100 people were arrested at the Columbia University camp-in, spurring solidarity protests at universities from Massachusetts to California. It was part of a demonstration.
The UC Berkeley camp is in its third day, but Cal Poly Humboldt's campus in Arcata is closed until Wednesday after students took over the administration building Monday night. Police also arrested activists from Yale University, New York University, and the University of Minnesota.
Tensions have been high at the university since October 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages. Gaza health authorities say more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory war. Health authorities do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, but say at least two-thirds of the dead are children and women. According to the United Nations, two million Gazans are living in conditions close to starvation.
At the University of Southern California on Wednesday, campus public safety officers directed students to remove tents and at one point dragged out lawn chairs, as at least two Los Angeles Police Department helicopters circled overhead throughout the afternoon. The tent went up and down several times. Students picked up tents and walked in circles to avoid violating the university's “no camping” policy.
University of Southern California public safety officers attempt to confiscate tents from pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
“Disclose! Divest! We will not stop, we will not rest!” the crowd said in a statement, calling itself the “Southern California Escape from Death Coalition.”
“Carol, Carol, you can't hide!” You are supporting genocide! ” chanted again, referring to University of Southern California President Carol Folt.
Protesters included members of pro-Palestinian groups such as Trojans for Palestine, Students for Palestine Justice, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Jewish groups condemned the protests and Muslim groups condemned the evening arrests.
“Students have the right to protest, but they do not have the right to threaten or intimidate Jewish students,” USC's Hillel said in a statement. “Today's events on campus included a protest in which anti-Semitic chants such as 'There is only one solution, the Intifada revolution' and 'Long live the Intifada' were once again used. These actions reflect an alarming and rapidly escalating situation across the nation and on the University of Southern California campus.”
In a separate statement, the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations objected to police arrests of rally participants.
“It is deeply concerning that the University of Southern California's response to students peacefully demonstrating solidarity with Palestine amounts to a forcible suppression of freedom of speech and assembly,” said Amr, CAIR-LA's legal director. Shabayk said. “This reflects a national trend of universities seeking to censor pro-Palestinian advocacy on campus.”
Wednesday evening's arrests came after several confrontations with campus security officers earlier in the day as Los Angeles Police Department officers began lining up outside campus.
Around noon, several campus employees surrounded and grabbed protesters during the confrontation. The officers drew their batons but did not strike the person as students yelled for them to let the person go. It is unclear what led to the collision.
Police and protesters clashed on campus Wednesday.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Officers detained the man in a white car as protesters followed him and demanded his release. Demonstrators gathered on either side of the vehicle and chanted “Release him!” and “Shame on you!”
About 30 minutes later, police released the demonstrator as the crowd returned to Alumni Park, where he was standing holding a white placard that read “Let Gaza Live.”
Groups outside the university distributed videos of the protest and called on the public to come to the University of Southern California. “Los Angeles, get here now!! We need bodies!!!” said a People's City Council social media post.
Shortly after 1 p.m., the university sent out a text message alert saying the campus gates were closed.
“Anyone coming to campus should be prepared to show identification at the gate for classes or business. Please continue to avoid the center of campus unless you have classes.” Ta.
By 2 p.m., Chancellor Andrew Guzman sent a campus-wide email saying protesters were “threatening the safety of staff and the campus community.”
Guzmán said the demonstrators were “repeatedly asked by security officials to remove tents and other prohibited items and move to compliant locations.” In both cases, protesters refused. Their actions escalate into confrontations and threaten the safety of our staff and campus community. ”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators participate in a sit-in on campus.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
The protests at the University of Southern California began after Folt canceled a speech by valedictorian Asna Tabassum scheduled for May 10's main stage graduation ceremony, which was expected to draw 65,000 people. The incident comes after more than a week of tension on campus.
The decision came after Tabassum posted pro-Palestinian links on his Instagram profile, which came under fire from pro-Israel groups on and off campus who accused him of being anti-Semitic. The University of Southern California said the cancellation had nothing to do with Tabassum's political views and was in response to unspecified threats to campus security targeting her speech. The university also canceled a main stage commencement speech by film director Jon M. Chu and appearances by honorary degree recipients, including tennis legend Billie Jean King.
“From Valedictorian Asna Tabassum to students speaking out against genocide, everyone deserves the full support of the university. It was an unprecedented level of oppression,” said Ahmad, a Palestinian-American protester. The members of the Palestinian Youth Movement declined to give their last names. “To this day, the university has not said a single word about our families or the genocide we are experiencing in Gaza.”
Several professors also participated in Wednesday's protest, holding signs that read “USC faculty against Palestinian genocide.” One of them was Amelia Jones, a professor at the Roski School of Art and Design.
“This is about what's happening in Gaza, but it's also about what's happening here,” Jones said. “They expelled students who didn't actually say or do anything. But universities are supposed to be places of free speech. We haven't heard anything from the president. I They feel unheard and excluded.”
Josh Raghavachary, a sophomore at the University of Southern California, said he heeded the government's call to avoid demonstrations but supported the cause.
“Students should be able to use their voices as long as they are alive. [doing so] Peacefully,” the psychology major said. “USC likes to say it supports free speech. But then it polices it.”
University officials said in a statement that they do not believe the protesters, most of whom appear to be undergraduate students, are from the University of Southern California.
“The university has a policy prohibiting camping on campus, which is written in the student handbook. About 10 to 15 people arrived on campus at 4:30 a.m. today with tents. [Department of Public Safety] Officers advised them of the policy and residents removed their tents,” the statement said.
“People remained in Alumni Park, most of whom appeared to be unaffiliated with the university,” the statement continued. “Our students, faculty and staff are allowed to express their opinions and have continued to do so throughout the school year.”
Times intern Jenna Peterson contributed to this report.
