Los Angeles police to remove Palestine camp at UCLA

Over a thousand protesters have gathered on the campus of UCLA.

A little after 03:30 local time, several media outlets report that the police have started removing fences and barricades around the pro-Palestine camp.

Live images from the scene show that the police have arrested several protesters. Smoke and fireworks are also displayed on site.

CNN writes that the students are taken onto buses in the student area.

In the last 24 hours, the demonstrators have been told to leave the area after the LA police declared the tent camp at UCLA an illegal assembly.

This means that the protesters will be arrested if they do not leave the area.

The university asks at 03 local time that the students leave the space on campus, where the pro-Palestinian camp is set up.

What’s up?

• Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators have been arrested at several universities in the United States in the past 24 hours.
• The students and demonstrators are demanding an end to the war in Gaza, and are demanding that universities divest from companies that sell arms or other services to Israel.
• Demonstrators have set up tent camps on around 30 university campuses in the country.
• At UCLA in Los Angeles, violent clashes broke out between pro-Palestinian protesters and counter-demonstrators on Wednesday.
• Exactly how many have been arrested in the demonstrations is unclear, but The Guardian estimates that the number has passed 1,300 since mid-April.

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Several faculty members told CNN that they support the students’ right to demonstrate peacefully, and that they themselves expect to be arrested on the spot.

Police wear helmets and visors. Several are also equipped with smoke grenades. Pictures from inside the camp show that several of the demonstrators have put on masks and helmets.

Some protesters have made shields to prepare:

It happens exactly one day after the LA police had to enter the campus area to separate angry protesters and counter-demonstrators.

The police receive criticism

The police effort from yesterday has received criticism: the LAPD arrived early, but it took a long time before they intervened despite the fact that there were several fights and firing of fireworks into the area where the Palestine demonstrators were.

All classes at UCLA were canceled Thursday as a result of the riots. Governor Gavin Newsom has condemned both the violence and the police’s passive efforts.

Earlier this week, police in Atlanta were criticized for using violent means to break up the demonstrations. The police themselves said that they were met with violence when they intervened.

UCLA has generally had a milder approach to the protests than, for example, USC, Columbia and other universities that have themselves called in the police.

In a statement Tuesday, UCLA President Michael V. Drake said the university needs to be as “flexible as they can” when it comes to free speech. At the same time, they must act if the demonstrations threaten the students’ learning and safety, he believes.

Wednesday evening local time, Thursday morning Norwegian time, CNN reports that 90 protesters have been arrested at Dartmouth University in Hanover.

Shortly before yesterday’s riots in Los Angeles, police entered the New York campus of the elite Columbia University, where protesters had broken windows and entered an administration building.

Demonstrating in Norway

The student newspaper Universitas wrote on Wednesday that students at several Norwegian universities are also planning support actions.

Thursday morning that a total of 16 tents were set up outside the University of Oslo, according to NRK.

Students at several Norwegian universities are planning support actions in light of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at American universities.

Also read: CNN: 300 people arrested in demonstrations at Columbia University