Police crackdown at UCLA: Abductions and arrests amid protests

Police entered the UCLA University campus in Los Angeles. The CNN team that was present at the site saw the police entering the place where the demonstrators who were against Palestine had gathered. Hours earlier, police had deemed the pro-Palestinian camp on campus to be an illegal gathering, a source told CNN.

CNN crews at the UCLA campus saw dozens of protesters arrested by California Highway Patrol officers. The protesters were trying to consolidate the blockade while the police broke it down. Officers are arresting protestors on buses that the police have parked about a mile from the campus.

About 300 people were arrested in an overnight police operation to clear the Columbia and City College of New York campuses of pro-Gaza protesters. The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, said this at a press conference, denouncing “a movement to radicalize young people… he will not allow this to happen”.

“The LAPD “immediately responded to a call for help from university authorities on campus,” wrote a spokesman for the city’s mayor Zach Seidl in X. According to images shown by CNN, the protesters were -face sticks; others were seen setting off fireworks or throwing objects at each other in the dark, illuminated by laser pointers and flashlights. Some demonstrators also tore down metal barricades, TV images showed. Over the past two weeks, many university administrators across the country have been confronted by protesters, sometimes a few dozen, who have taken over their campuses in protest of Israel’s war on Gaza . The pro-Palestinian students were camping in the heart of the UCLA campus, on a lawn surrounded by barricades.

Clashes have been reported at a protest on the University of California campus, in the latest escalation of anti-Israel-Hamas war demonstrations that have spread to college campuses across the country. American TV is reporting on it. The scuffles began when a group of pro-Israel protesters appeared on campus with the intention of disrupting the pro-Palestinian rally, according to US TV KTLA.

Police did not use tear gas at Columbia University. The New York Police Department specifies this, denying the rumors circulating on social media.

“They left us no choice”: this is how Columbia University justified the decision to call the police to evict Hamilton Hall. “We regret that the protesters chose to escalate their situation through their actions. “After discovering that Hamilton Hall was occupied, damaged and boarded, we had no choice,” he said in a statement. Columbia says the group that was residence in Hamilton Hall is conducted by individuals not affiliated with the university.

The NYPD entered Hamilton Hall through one of the building’s windows. Outside the building, the police removed many students who had gathered nearby and dozens of people were arrested. According to sources at New York City Hall, Columbia University has sent a letter to the police asking for campus intervention to vacate Hamilton Hall. The letter legitimized the agents’ intervention on campus and the arrest of students. The university’s request is the second since April 18, when President Minouche Shafik asked for intervention to clean up a tent city on campus.

Police entered Columbia University to reclaim Hamilton Hall occupied by protesters. Officers in riot gear entered the campus through the 114th Street entrance. ANSA found this.

The New York Police announced that the Black Block is in the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia University. “There are anarchists who know the police,” Rebecca Weiner, chief of intelligence for the Big Apple police force, told NBC. “These are people who don’t profess ideologies or political interests, but just want confusion and conflict created by the police,” he said.

A peaceful Columbia protest has been hijacked by “professional outside activists” who want to cause chaos. The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, said this in a press conference. “Some of these are known to us,” said Deputy Police Chief for Intelligence Rebecca Weiner. Adams said protesters should leave campus before the situation escalates. “This has to stop now,” said the mayor, who said “outsiders” were creating security problems for the protests. “Maybe some students don’t understand what they have put in. We ask them and those who violate Columbia’s order to leave the area, to leave the area immediately.”