The growing encampment on the campus of UCLA – one of many that have sprung up at colleges across the country – continues to be a point of contention between anti-war protesters, university officials and law enforcement.
A counter-protest in support of Jewish students scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday could escalate tensions even further, and a GoFundMe called “Bruins for Israel” has raised over $64,000 to bring a “huge screen and big, loud speakers” to Dickson Plaza for the demonstrators, according to the Daily Bruin – more than double the fundraiser’s goal of $26,000.
Video sent to KTLA by a UCLA student shows protesters chanting and expanding the encampment at Dickson Plaza late Saturday night; counter-protesters have been active on and off at the encampment since it was erected Thursday.
Law enforcement officials were seen adding new barricades near the encampment Sunday morning ahead of the planned demonstration, which according to a flyer promoting the counter-protest, will be a peaceful gathering.
KTLA 5’s Omar Lewis attempted to speak with residents of the encampment early Sunday, but they declined to comment.
Students at the University of Southern California have also been staging protests after it was announced that class valedictorian Asna Tabassum would not be giving a graduation speech due to pro-Israel groups accusing her of being antisemitic.
Since then, several demonstrations have taken place on campus — some of which resulted in dozens of arrests — and encampments have popped up, however unlike UCLA, tents are illegal on USC’s campus.
Since the cancelation of Tabassum’s speech, USC canceled all speeches at graduation before completely calling off the entire main ceremony.
A city-wide tactical order was issued Saturday night by the Los Angeles Police Department as the USC protests continue.