Campus protest: Tensions and Violence against pro-Palestinian students protesting ai UCLA(II)

campus protest

(Continuation of the post from here)

This Thursday morning, the police began to dismantle the barricades of pro-Palestinian students on campus protest, according to images broadcast by the American channel CNN. Before daybreak, the police, in riot gear, positioned themselves in front of the students carrying umbrellas or white helmets and forming a line, clinging to each other's arms. The demonstrators, one by one, were then arrested and handcuffed. The police also methodically dismantled the wooden pallets and plywood panels from a barricade surrounding the campus protest and dismantled the tents.

Officers warned protesters that they would be subject to arrest and possible harm if they remained in the encampment, but many of them refused to leave, CNN reported. “Hold the line, hold the line!” “, some shouted from inside the camp. Several people also gathered on the Janss steps, emblematic of UCLA, appearing to try to prevent the police from advancing.

Around fifty UCLA professors denounced the management's responsibility on Wednesday. “The university has created a dangerous situation which reached a crescendo last night,” said Graeme Blair, a political science professor. “They allow counter-protesters to be within 20 feet (6 meters) of this encampment,” he lamented, estimating that counter-demonstrations could be authorized elsewhere on campus.

Are the anti-protesters pro-Israeli?

According to several witnesses, some of the counter-protesters carried Israeli flags, but did not appear to be students. They add that many of them have visited campus several times.

“From the first evening, (those present at the camp) were harassed by increasingly large groups of counter-protesters,” Dylan Winward, a journalist with the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper, told the BBC.

The hooded and masked attackers appeared to be “between 20 and 35 years old and did not look like students or people with the slightest connection to the university,” Daniel Harris, a 23-year-old jazz student, told AFP. , adding that he did not recognize any of the “Jewish students who support Israel” that he knows.

According to Professor Elizabeth O’Brien, “provocateurs from outside” chanting slogans such as “USA!” USA! » or “Fake News” are at the origin of the violence. The clashes appear to have lasted several hours. According to paramedics, a man in his twenties was taken to hospital with head trauma.

The day after a restless night, relative calm reigned on campus on Wednesday, with a strong police presence. Inside the camp, around a hundred tents, pro-Palestinian students are still gathered. Classes were canceled and management issued a statement saying it had opened “a thorough investigation that could lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals.” »

Campus protest: Tensions and Violence against pro-Palestinian students protesting ai UCLA(I)

 Police officers in riot gear intervened during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday to separate the two camps at UCLA University and repel the counter-protesters who had come to the university campus to fight. The police began dismantling barricades this Thursday.

campus protest

Clashes broke out overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday at UCLA University, after counter-protesters attacked pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied parts of the campus for several days. On Thursday, the police removed grilles and boards and several demonstrators were arrested.

What happened ?

A largely peaceful pro-Palestinian encampment set up at UCLA last week was attacked by counter-protesters shortly before midnight local time. Videos show the camp besieged by dozens of masked and hooded people appearing to want to break the barricades.

Several of them brandished long sticks: at least one person in the camp was hit in the head before falling to the ground.

“Pepper spray, tear gas, boards, bricks, fireworks - not firecrackers - were fired directly at the students,” Vincent Doehr, a doctoral student in political science at UCLA, told CNN and responsible for media relations for the demonstrators.

“They threw paving stones, pipes at us, they tore up wooden slabs to throw them at us,” Kaia Shah, another spokesperson, told AFP. “Every time those who tried to hold them had their heads exposed, they slapped us, hit us. » According to her, 25 students were hospitalized.

Did the police intervene?

UCLA security forces arrived about two hours after the clashes began, but did not initially intervene, an AFP journalist noted. Police in riot gear separated the two camps around 3 a.m. local time, pushing back counter-protesters.

“The limited and delayed response from campus law enforcement at UCLA last night is unacceptable and demands answers,” California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom responded on Wednesday. A California State Police unit had to be deployed due to the incapacity of officers on campus, he added.

(to be continued here)