Violent clashes broke out Wednesday between protesters against and in support of Israel on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), hours after the evacuation and arrest of the anti-Israel demonstrators who took over the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia University in New York. The UCLA student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, reported that the pro-Israel protesters tried to break up the opposition protest camp on campus, and then the clashes broke out.
Clashes between opposing protest groups at the University of California, Los Angeles
(Reuters)
During the riot at UCLA, chairs were thrown, and protesters were seen pushing and kicking each other and hitting other protesters with sticks, wooden boards and other objects, including a tennis racket. In one of the videos, activists were seen approaching the makeshift wall of the protest camp and were blocked by a pro-Palestinian protester, who they then beat and kicked to the floor. In another video, the apparently pro-Israel group is seen approaching the barrier set up by the opposition, shouting "USA!". One of its masked men is heard shouting: "You want to block Jewish children? Let's see. We are fighting back!"
Following the outbreak of violence, which began in the middle of the night in California, the university administration called police to the scene. Policemen dressed in protective gear were seen standing on campus in a line, without intervening.
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Protesters get violent on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles
(Photo: ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP)
"Horrifying acts of violence took place tonight at the protest camp, and we immediately called law enforcement to assist," UCLA senior Marie Osco told the university's student newspaper. The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, spoke with university officials and said that the police would assist the management as requested.
The Los Angeles Police Department said on X it was responding to UCLA's request "due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus", to restore order and maintain public safety.
Broadcast footage showed a police cordon slowly clearing a central quad beside the encampment.
Los Angeles Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, whose district includes UCLA, posted on X: "Everyone has a right to free speech and protest, but the situation on UCLA’s campus is out of control and is no longer safe."
Bass called the violence “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable” in a post on social media platform X and said officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were on the scene. Officers from the California Highway Patrol also appeared to be there. The university said it had requested help.
The confrontation at UCLA came hours after police raided Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York and evicted anti-Israel protesters who had barricaded themselves there, while arresting some of them. About three hours later, the university informed the faculty and students: "The campus is being evacuated of protesters." Dozens of the protesters were arrested; according to reports, one of the students on the scene lost consciousness during the police raid.
During the operation at Columbia University, the police used four stun grenades, and they claim that some of the protesters tried to prevent the police from entering the campus. In video images distributed from Hamilton Hall, police are seen raiding the building through the second-floor windows.
Columbia University said in a statement that New York police forces arrived on campus at the university's request in order to restore security and order to the campus.
“After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and blockaded, we were left with no choice,” the school said. “The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing. We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.”
The university statement also noted that the group that broke into and fortified the building is led by people who are not connected to the campus. The university stated that it contacted the police because "it is impossible to allow protesters who violate the law to disrupt the conduct of the campus on a regular basis."
The takeover of the building began Tuesday after the university announced that anti-Israel students who set up the protest camp would be suspended. The protesters, including masked ones with hoods, broke down the front door, smashed its windows, and barricaded themselves in the seven-story building with tables and trash cans, when outside about 1,000 students surrounded the building and blocked the entrance doors.
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New York Police officers arrest protesters at Columbia University
(Photo: Alex Kent / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
The protesters stated that they will remain in the building until all their demands from the university are met - removal of investments, financial transparency and amnesty for the protesters. The protestors even called "for the press and the public to hold Columbia accountable for any disproportionate response to the actions of the students today. To the administrators and trustees of Columbia: do not bring soldiers and police with weapons to our campus. The blood of the students will be on your hands."
At the same time as the events tonight at Columbia University, clashes between police officers and protesters developed on the nearby campus of City College (CCNY), and dozens were arrested there as well. In total, more than 100 students were arrested on both campuses, most of them at Columbia. CNN also reported violent clashes on the campus of the University of Arizona, where the police used tear gas against anti-Israel activists and called on people to avoid coming to the area. Police also appeared to be breaking up a protest camp at the University of Wisconsin on Wednesday morning, according to CNN.