Police face off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, May 2. Photo by Getty Images

By Louis Keene May 2, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Law enforcement breached a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the early hours of Thursday morning following an hourslong standoff with thousands of people who came to defend the encampment.

Hundreds of officers from the California Highway Patrol arrived at the encampment at around 3 a.m. in full riot gear and proceeded to dismantle the encampment’s makeshift plywood board wall as flash grenades exploded overhead. Officers could be seen on news broadcasts making dozens of arrests.

The Palestine Solidarity Encampment, which formed April 25 amid a wave of similar campus demonstrations nationwide, was possibly the one that stood the longest. And much of the night, it looked like it might last another sunrise. A phalanx of LAPD officers that entered the encampment at around 1 a.m. was forced to retreat out of it by hundreds of protesters.

But as dawn approached, the CHP force was gradually advancing through the waves of students, faculty and other supporters defying the university chancellor’s call — and the police’s orders — to leave. They cleared Royce Hall, the building abutting the encampment, at around 4:45 a.m.

They then began quashing the dozens of tents still up as about 200 people — most wearing white helmets — formed a human chain along the east side of what remained of the encampment.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block had called the encampment “unlawful” in a statement Tuesday and warned students they faced academic discipline if they did not vacate the area.

The law enforcement efforts to clear the encampment began about 24 hours after a pack of pro-Israel protesters showed up and started trying to rip off its walls and lobbing poles, cones and other objects toward the tents. A melee ensued, with an encampment spokesperson saying that dozens were taken to a hospital.

Thousands of people turned out at the encampment Wednesday evening when it appeared its clearing was imminent. As knots of officers in riot gear amassed outside multiple entrances to the encampment, even larger contingents of protesters gathered to block their progress.

But despite some tense moments, the scene was considerably less violent than the night before. Most protesters appeared to surrender, some in large groups, and make way once officers began pushing forward.

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