LOS ANGELES — Police removed barricades and began dismantling a pro-Palestinian demonstrators’ fortified encampment early Thursday at the UCLA campus after hundreds of protesters defied police orders to leave, about 24 hours after counter-protesters attacked a tent encampment on the campus.
The law enforcement effort comes after officers spent hours threatening arrests over loud speakers if people did not disperse. Hundreds of people had gathered on campus, both inside a barricaded tent encampment and outside of it in support.
The sound of flash bangs could be heard as police moved in.
An unlawful assembly was declared at UCLA even as crowds in a pro-Palestine encampment and a pro-Israel counter-protest group were growing in size.
Police methodically ripped apart the encampment’s barricade of plywood, pallets, metal fences and trash dumpsters and made an opening toward dozens of tents of demonstrators. Police also began to pull down canopies and tents.
Demonstrators were holding umbrellas like shields as they faced off with dozens of officers. Some of the protesters warned their fellow demonstrators to be ready with water in case police release tear gas or other irritant.
The police action occurred a night after the UCLA administration and campus police waited hours to stop the counter-protesters’ attack. The delay drew condemnation from Muslim students and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Demonstrators rebuilt the makeshift barriers around their tents on Wednesday afternoon while state and campus police watched.
Police have ordered protesters to disperse from the UCLA campus after an encampment grew in size during the daytime Wednesday.
Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread across campuses nationwide in a student movement unlike any other this century. The ensuing police crackdowns echoed actions decades ago against a much larger protest movement protesting the Vietnam War.
The tense standoff at UCLA came one night after violence instigated by counter-protesters erupted in the same place.
The night before, at least 15 people were injured during hours of clashes. There was no police presence on campus for at least three hours as protesters and counter-protesters fought, in some cases using metal barricades and plywood as weapons, as well as deploying bear spray and tear gas.
UCLA authorities were facing sharp criticism Wednesday over their apparent delay in requesting assistance from police. When CHP and LAPD officers were finally brought in, they began clearing the crowds around 3 a.m. Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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