Police in riot gear moved onto the UCLA campus in Los Angeles late Wednesday and early Thursday morning native time in an operation to take down a pro-Palestinian encampment and disperse scholar protesters a day after the encampment was attacked by masked counter-protesters. In keeping with the Daily Bruin, the UCLA school paper, at round 11:20 p.m. on Wednesday, over 60 officers emerged from Kaplan Corridor, positioning themselves alongside different police on Dickson Plaza. By 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, California Freeway Patrol officers established a further line of reinforcement in entrance of the barricade surrounding the encampment. Protesters, some sporting arduous hats, googles and masks, locked arms, chanted “go away our campus” and created makeshift defences from umbrellas. The protesters are calling for College divestment from Israel.
Video of the protests streamed through the Related Press and ABC7 in Los Angeles confirmed smoke and the sound of fireworks within the background, together with California Freeway Patrol helicopters overhead. Police had been seen dismantling the barricades and arresting folks, with some being led away in handcuffs and zip ties. Ben Kersten, from Jewish Voice for Peace at UCLA, informed BBC Information that police had been setting off flash bangs over the camp; a number of protesters claimed that rubber bullets had been used. Police sources have mentioned that the police had used “non-lethal” weapons.
This newest motion from the police comes a day after masked counter-protesters violently attacked the UCLA encampment, armed with projectiles, fireworks and chemical brokers. At the very least 15 folks had been injured. On Wednesday, the encampment was declared an illegal meeting and police had warned protesters to go away or face arrest. In keeping with the Daily Bruin, some professors on the college had mentioned that they had been planning to be arrested alongside the scholars. Affiliate Professor of Political Science, Graeme Blair mentioned in a textual content message that the professors would “assist our college students till they’re launched, after which we will probably be again with them to recenter consideration on divestment.”
Over the course of this week, US police have been known as in to disperse encampments at a number of universities, beginning with New York’s Columbia College on Tuesday, the place protesters had occupied a tutorial constructing on campus.
This can be a growing story.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
