Students at the University of California, Los Angeles, formed a new pro-Palestinian protest Thursday as the university’s chancellor was questioned by Washington lawmakers over how he responded to an encampment last month.
A small group of protesters initially formed a new encampment early in the afternoon, creating a barricade with umbrellas, tables and wooden slabs in an area known as Patio Kerckhoff. But they fled when police arrived, some going to a nearby building for a sit-in. UCLA said it was not aware of any arrests by police.
Already facing pressure over its response to protests in late April, the university appeared to take a hard line Thursday. Shortly after the encampment formed, UCLA warned the students that they would be arrested if they did not leave, and they quickly called officers from the Los Angeles and Santa Monica police departments, who arrived wearing riot helmets and carrying batons. Several police wagons were also brought to the campus.
Police sought to prevent other demonstrators from entering the encampment, and several hundred other demonstrators gathered outside to show their support. There were a few small skirmishes during which the police pushed back the demonstrators with batons.
In a statement, university officials said the protesters were “disrupting campus operations” because they barricaded the patio.
“Protesters have been informed that if they do not disperse, they face arrest and possible disciplinary action, as well as being ordered to stay off campus for seven days,” officials wrote , adding that the order would apply to people whether they are there or not. they are not affiliated with the university.
Outside Murphy Hall, about 300 protesters chanted “Free Palestine” and urged the university to divest from companies they see as supporting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
UCLA’s Students for Palestine Justice chapter urged people to come out and support the protest and criticized the congressional hearing into allegations of anti-Semitism. “We’re back,” the group wrote in an Instagram post Thursday morning, calling the new protest “Camp 2.0.”
The group said in a statement that the hearing was “a classic example of political theater” that conflated “calls for Palestinian liberation with anti-Semitism” in an attempt to curb pro-Palestinian movements. He condemned what he called a “McCarthyist” effort to censor protesters.
UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block was among three university leaders to testify Thursday before the House committee investigating anti-Semitism on campus. Lawmakers criticized Dr. Block for not emptying the camp earlier in April and for failing to protect the students when they were attacked by a group of pro-Israel counterprotesters. Police eventually cleared the encampment, arresting more than 200 pro-Palestinian protesters earlier this month.
