LOS ANGELES: More than 130 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Thursday morning at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as police moved to dismantle an encampment at the university, one of the top public universities in the United States, according to authorities.
The California Highway Patrol said at least 132 people were arrested during the operation, Xinhua reported.
Hours before dawn, California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear broke through the encampment which was set up by protesters last week in support of Palestinians amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Officers from multiple agencies, including the California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police Department, took part in the action at the university’s campus.
UCLA had declared the encampment “unlawful” on Tuesday and warned that protesters must leave the area. The university cancelled all classes for Wednesday after a night of violent clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters on campus.
Police continued to arrest encampment protesters into early Thursday morning, with many ticketed for trespassing and loaded onto buses for further processing, reported Daily Bruin, the university’s student newspaper.
Some arrested protesters appeared to be loaded into buses marked as Los Angeles County Sheriff prisoner transport, said the report, adding that it was not immediately clear what, if any, charges or processing detainees might face next.
Following the arrest of more than 100 student protesters last month at Columbia University in New York, pro-Palestinian demonstrations are spreading at colleges and universities across the United States.
Hundreds of protesters were arrested in crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests and encampments on campuses across the country this week. – BERNAMA-XINHUA
