LOS ANGELES (AP) – A group of dueling protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, engaging in fistfights, shoving, kicking and hitting each other with sticks.Police a few hours ago broke into the building At Columbia University, pro-Palestinian protesters crushed a demonstration that paralyzed the school while inspiring others.
After several hours of scuffles between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators at UCLA, police wearing helmets and face shields formed a line and slowly separated the groups. That appeared to quell the violence.
tent encampment Number of demonstrators demanding that the university: stop doing business with Israel or companies that support it war in gaza They became a student movement unlike any other in the 21st century, spreading across the United States from New York to Texas to California. The ensuing police crackdowns on some college campuses have echoes of even larger student protests during the Vietnam War.
There were also clashes with law enforcement, and more than 1,000 people were arrested.In rare cases, university officials and protest leaders agreements concluded To limit disruption to campus life and future life graduation ceremony.
The clashes at UCLA occurred around a tent encampment where pro-Palestinian protesters had erected barricades and plywood for protection, which counter-protesters tried to pull down. Video showed fireworks exploding above and inside the encampment. People threw chairs, and at one point a group piled on top of a person lying on the ground, kicking and punching him with sticks until others dragged him out of the scrum.
It is not clear how many people will be injured.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the violence “absolutely abhorrent and unacceptable” on social media platform X and said LAPD officers were at the scene. California Highway Patrol officers also appeared to be there. The university announced that it had requested assistance.
safety Tightened on Tuesday on campus after officials said there was a “physical altercation” between factions of protesters.
Later that day, New York City officials entered Columbia University's campus after the university requested assistance, according to a statement from a spokesperson. A tent encampment on the school grounds was cleared, as was Hamilton Hall, where officers had climbed through a second-story window using a ladder. Protesters took over the halls of the Ivy League school about 20 hours ago.
“After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and placed on lockdown, we were left with no choice,” the school said in a statement. “The decision to contact the NYPD is in response to the actions of the protesters and not based on the cause they champion. We have made it clear that campus life cannot be disrupted indefinitely.”
Dozens of people were arrested in the building after protesters ignored them previous ultimatum They will either abandon the camp on Monday or move on as other universities step up efforts to end the demonstrations. Inspired by Colombia.
Fabian Lugo, a first-year accounting student who said he was not involved in the protests, said he opposed the university's decision to call the police.
“This is too intense,” he said. “It feels like more of an escalation than a de-escalation.”
At the City University of New York, a few blocks away from Columbia, protesters were involved in a standoff with police outside the public university's main gates. Video posted to social media late Tuesday by reporters at the scene shows officers pushing some people to the ground and shoving others as they remove people from roads and sidewalks. was.
When police arrived, officers lowered the Palestinian flag onto the City University flagpole, rolled it up and threw it on the ground, then raised the American flag.
Brown University, another Ivy League member, reached an agreement Tuesday with protesters at its Rhode Island campus. Demonstrators said they would close the camp in exchange for administrators voting in October to consider divestment of capital from Israel. The compromise appears to be the first time a U.S. university has agreed to vote on divestment in the wake of protests.
Meanwhile, at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, police in riot gear swooped into the encampment late Tuesday and arrested about 20 people on trespassing charges, including at least one person on the ground. I was thrown away. University officials had warned earlier in the day that students could face criminal charges if they did not disperse.
Freshman Brayden Lang watched from the sideline. “I still know very little about this conflict,” he says. “But I cannot bear the death of thousands of people.”
Nationwide campus protests began at Columbia University in response to Israeli attacks in Gaza, after Hamas launched deadly attacks in southern Israel on October 7. The militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israel, which has vowed to eradicate Hamas, has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Strip's Ministry of Health.
as ceasefire negotiations Although momentum appeared to be building, it is unclear whether these talks will lead to a easing of the protests.
Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests anti-Semitic, but Israel's critics say they are using these claims to silence opponents. Some protesters have been caught on camera making anti-Semitic remarks and threats of violence, but protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say this is in support of Palestinian rights. It claims to be a peaceful movement aimed at protesting the war.
Colombian police behavior It happened on the 56th anniversary A similar effort to quell the occupation of Hamilton Hall by students protesting racism and the Vietnam War.
The police department announced early Tuesday that officers would not enter the grounds unless requested by university authorities or there is an immediate emergency. Law enforcement is currently scheduled to remain active until May 17, when the university's graduation ceremonies conclude.
In a letter to top police officials, Colombian President Minouche Shafik said the Colombian president “with great regret” asked officers to remove protesters from the occupied building and nearby tent encampment. Ta.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” that police had to enter Hamilton Hall “for the safety of the children.”
He again blamed outside agitators for taking over the building. Shafiq also raised this idea, but neither provided any concrete evidence to support the claim, which protest organizers and participants disputed.
Tariq Sheppard, deputy commissioner for public affairs, said 40 to 50 people were arrested at Hamilton Hall, but no one was injured.
Protesters set up tent encampments in Colombia for the first time nearly two weeks ago. The school sent police the next day to remove the tent and arrested more than 100 people, but the students returned.
Negotiations between the protesters and the university have stalled in recent days, with the school setting a Monday afternoon deadline for the activists to abandon the tent camp or face suspension.
Instead, protesters defied the ultimatum and took over Hamilton Hall early Tuesday, bringing in furniture and metal barricades.
Ilana Lukovic, a self-described “left-wing Zionist” student at Columbia University, said she has found it difficult to concentrate at school in recent weeks. Her exam was interrupted by a chant: “Say it loud, say it clearly, we want the Zionists out of here.”
Lukovic, who is Jewish, wishes the current pro-Palestinian protests would be more open to people like her who criticize Israel's war policies but believe there should be an Israeli state. He said he was there.
___
Offenhartz and Frederick reported from New York. This report includes Cedar Attanasio, Jonathan Mathis, Colleen Long, Karen Matthews, Jim Vertuno, Hannah Schoenbaum, Sarah Brumfield, Christopher Webber, Carolyn Thompson, Dave Collins, Makiya Seminella , Philip Marcello and Corey Williams contributed to this report. and Felicia Fonseca.