On Thursday, police in Los Angeles arrested over 200 protesters as they moved to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The police, wearing helmets, body armor, and face shields, tore down the barricades as protesters attempted to hold together the plywood and metal fencing assembly. One of the officers even fired a rubber bullet into the crowd after demonstrators poured fire extinguishers at police.
According to the Los Angeles Police, 208 people were arrested for allegedly failing to disperse, which is a misdemeanor.
The raid came after days of protests on campus over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The encampment had been set up in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who have been under attack by Israeli forces.
The Daily Bruin, UCLA’s independent student-run newspaper, reported that over 50 people contributed to the coverage of the campus protests, attacks on the encampment, and police raid.
The editor-in-chief of the Daily Bruin, Isabelle Friedman, described the police raid as “traumatising and distressing” and said that “our reporters were gassed, assaulted and threatened with arrest”.
She also said that she and others were forced to leave the building near the encampment despite an assurance from the vice chancellor to cover protests safely.
Friedman’s account of the raid has been met with support from many on social media, with some calling her “the light, the hope and our future.”
The incident has also raised concerns about freedom of speech on campus. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California said in a statement that “the university has a responsibility to protect the First Amendment rights of its students, faculty, and staff.”
The university has not yet commented on the raid.
