The College Fix

Campus blanketed with trash, graffiti; classes canceled

Riot police cleared out a pro-Palestinian encampment and arrested hundreds of protesters Thursday at the University of California at Los Angeles as campus protests devolve across the nation.

The arrests included students and faculty who ignored authorities’ repeated warnings to leave and resisted police action to clear the encampment, according to the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper.

The report described “hundreds of loud blasts of noise believed to be stun grenades, various plumes of gas, debris from the encampment and lingering tear gas” as police moved into the encampment, organized by the UC Divest Coalition and Students for Justice in Palestine.

One man reportedly was hit with a rubber bullet after California Highway Patrol officers warned protesters to stop throwing things at them, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Later, the Los Angeles Police Department told the newspaper there were 209 arrests, most for alleged failure to disperse.

UCLA 🚨: CHP Police have broken through the entire front barrier tearing down makeshift walls and metal bars. There is now nothing standing in between exposed protestors and Riot Police. pic.twitter.com/QpC5pjFuUx

— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) May 2, 2024

The Post Millennial reports more:

Police broke down the walls and makeshift barriers to the encampment to make the arrests.

As the LAPD moved into the area, the Gaza camp protesters and rioters moved to put up a new barrier.

California Highway Patrol (CHP) riot police were also on the scene to help clear the encampment on campus.

The LAPD and UC Police Department also were involved, arresting and ticketing protesters and loading them into buses, according to the reports.

Afterward, videos on X show huge piles of debris littering the campus lawn and graffiti spray-painted on building walls and sidewalks.

NEW: UCLA campus looks like a landfill after pro-Palestine protesters, many of whom are also environmental activists, demolished the campus.

Police are dismantling the fortified camp after an intense night.

Police fired flash-bangs at the protesters last night before… pic.twitter.com/d70wBEmxD6

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 2, 2024

A KTLA 5 aerial video showed a massive clean-up effort later Thursday as workers gathered tents, tarps, chairs, wooden pallets, food, signs, and more into large piles.

Ahead of police action, UCLA warned protesters in a statement Tuesday that the multi-day encampment was illegal and students could face suspension or expulsion.

The university also canceled in-person classes for the week and encouraged employees to work remotely.

Chancellor Gene Block condemned the protesters’ violent behavior in a statement Thursday, saying it “has shaken our campus to its core.”

“However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable,” Block said.

He also said the university is conducting “a thorough investigation” that may lead to more “arrests, expulsions and dismissals.”

Similar raucous protests in recent days have prompted police action at the University of New Mexico, Columbia, Virginia Commonwealth, Portland State, and the University of Texas at Austin.

At California State Polytechnic University at Humboldt, the site of another protest last week, administrators estimated the cost to clean up trash and graffiti is “in the millions,” the LA Times reported.

MORE: UChicago administrators meet with encampment organizers as protest enters day 4

IMAGE: Jon Baird/X screenshot

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