Following a long standoff, law enforcement dismantled the pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA on May 1-2, reportedly arresting more than 200 protesters.
According to reports, police announced a dispersal order to the protesters at 6 pm; setting off a standoff that lasted several hours before police moved in. Some of the protesters formed a human chain and attempted to resist the police, but police in riot gear broke through the barriers and swept through the encampment. While the majority of the protesters reportedly left voluntarily, the protesters who remained in the encampment were arrested. Fox 11 Los Angeles reported those arrested were subsequently released but are being charged with unlawful assembly, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.
Video of the police clearing out the encampment can be seen on social media.
BREAKING UCLA 🚨 : CHP Riot Police begin trying to break through protestor barrier, fights ensue, multiple injured. pic.twitter.com/2hCSmihJZ9
— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) May 2, 2024
This is what it was like on the #UCLA campus when police moved in this morning on demonstrators. @knxnews pic.twitter.com/UJ5bf7Qnkh
— Jon Baird (@KNXBaird) May 2, 2024
UCLA BREAKING 🚨 : CHP RIOT POLICE HAVE BROKEN THROUGH, POLICE HAVE BREACHED THE ENCAMPMENT. PEOPLE BEING DETAINED. pic.twitter.com/uxcAOReRp5
— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) May 2, 2024
UCLA 🚨: Few hundred protestors have been pushed out of the last section of the encampment as CHP gains FULL CONTROL of the area. The encampment is being completely disassembled and mass arrests made of those that chose to stay behind. The UCLA Encampment is no more. It’s 0528. pic.twitter.com/LP39GD2qcC
— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) May 2, 2024
Journalist Cam Higby shared screenshots he claimed were from the encampment’s Telegram chat as the police took action.
These people really think they’re about to hold the line against the LAPD all night lol. pic.twitter.com/V1qv08Sjfl
— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) May 2, 2024
This is what was going on inside of their telegram group as they were being raided pic.twitter.com/COeWY5Ut2Q
— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) May 2, 2024
Video of the aftermath shows the entire area the protesters occupied — and even some nearby areas — covered in graffiti and littered with garbage.
NEW: UCLA campus looks like a landfill after pro-Palestine protesters, many of whom are also environmental activists, demolished the campus.
Police are dismantling the fortified camp after an intense night.
Police fired flash-bangs at the protesters last night before… pic.twitter.com/d70wBEmxD6
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 2, 2024
UCLA looks like a landfill right now pic.twitter.com/63S2yZtOxU
— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) May 2, 2024
A clean-up of the area is currently underway.
A mass cleanup in Dickson Plaza on the #UCLA campus. After authorities moved in and forced the #ProPalestinian protesters out of their camp. @knxnews pic.twitter.com/fC4d01UV7d
— Jon Baird (@KNXBaird) May 2, 2024
As the cleanup continues on the #UCLA campus, a law enforcement source told me more than 200 were arrested this morning. Most of them for failure to disperse. @knxnews pic.twitter.com/hjNjOnZeEi
— Jon Baird (@KNXBaird) May 2, 2024
Fox 11 also reported that some protesters returned to the encampment to take some of their personal belongings and that one protester shouted, “This is not over!”
All that work spent to dismantle the UCLA encampment, and now the protesters who escaped arrest are being allowed to return and are talking about rebuilding it. pic.twitter.com/5qGMSrLS0b
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) May 2, 2024
The university announced on May 2 that classes will be held remotely for the rest of the week and that anyone who remains in the encampment “will be in violation of the law” and could be disciplined.
“It’s a very sad day for UCLA and Bruins everywhere. Last night was devastating and the aftermath is devastating.” – UCLA Hillel Executive Director Dan Gold
“It’s a very sad day for UCLA and Bruins everywhere,” UCLA Hillel Executive Director Dan Gold told the Journal. “Last night was devastating and the aftermath is devastating. Hillel at UCLA, like always, is first and foremost thinking about our Jewish students and all of UCLA’s student and hope that everyone comes together to support the well-being of each and every one of them. We are grateful to the university leadership and the local authorities for taking the difficult steps to enforce their polices and start the process of bringing order back to our campus. We are praying for continued calm. We also know there will be a lot to reflect on in the coming days and weeks ahead about the anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist hate and rhetoric that was part of and in parts of the encampment. Our Hillel will continue to do what’s best for the Jewish students, their pluralistic identities, and the antisemitism they face on campus.”
