USC closes campus after pro-Palestinian protesters and police clash

Police in riot gear arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Southern California after ordering the large crowd to disperse. Authorities also clashed as dozens of other protesters refused to disperse on Wednesday night.

Some people cooperated and began leaving the premises, however, more than 100 people remained, including a group that gathered in a circle and stood with their arms folded. Officers began to surround the cordon and the surrounding crowd began chanting, “We only wanted peace!” and “Good luck to the students!”

By 6 pm, several protesters from the circle had been arrested. Soon afterwards, others surrendered voluntarily. By 9:30 pm, police confirmed that around 35 protesters had been arrested for encroachment. Several dozen others are still being processed, the LAPD said.

Protesters remained mostly peaceful throughout the demonstration, apart from several isolated incidents, one of which involved a water bottle being thrown towards police lines.

The protesters, who were objecting to Israel’s response to the ongoing war in Gaza and the October 7 attacks by Hamas, claimed that authorities were “raiding encampments” and “violently arresting” them. According to a worker,

Video shared on social media Los Angeles Times reporter Angie Orellana Hernandez shows at least one officer waving a baton after “officers put their hands on a @USC student.” that later shared another video Showing students surrounding a police vehicle so that it could not leave the area with a student whom protesters believed had been wrongly detained.

As reported, school authorities eventually locked down the campus around 1:45 a.m., allowing only students to enter NewsNation’s Nancy Lu,

The order to disperse was issued and Los Angeles Police officers arrived at the campus around 4 p.m. Officers wearing riot gear began dispersing the gathered crowd. Authorities confirmed that no officers or protesters were injured during the demonstration and ultimately, 93 people were arrested during the afternoon and evening protests.

The tension comes days after USC canceled a speech by honoree Asna Tabassum, citing unspecified security concerns related to her social media activity in support of the Palestinian cause.

Shortly after the campus clash, USC’s provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs Andrew T. Guzman issued a statement saying that the university “values ​​freedom of expression” but added that its “top priority and responsibility is to protect the safety of “To our community and to ensure that our academic programs and university activities continue uninterrupted.”

“(Protesters’) actions have escalated to the point of confrontation and put the safety of our officers and the campus community at risk,” Guzman said.

In response, the school reverted to its protocol for nights and weekends, when “individuals with proper USC identification or verifiable business purpose” can enter the campus, but not others.

“We want to be clear that we reject speech that is hateful and that harms others,” Guzman wrote. “During this challenging time, we call on the Trojan Family to remember that every member of our community deserves respect, the opportunity to be safe on campus, take classes, and participate in other campus activities without fear of harassment or bullying. Have the right to take. Treating each other with kindness and care should be everyone’s priority.”

Guzman’s words came after the start of an emotional morning and afternoon on campus.

“There are over 33,000 people who have died, there are children, there are families, there are parents,” a USC student named Angel told KTLA’s Lauren Lister. “I think both sides … we have to recognize that we have to end this because there’s just too much damage.”

On Tuesday, Al Jazeera cited Gaza Health Ministry figures indicating that “at least 34,183 people have been killed and 77,084 wounded” in Israel’s war against Hamas, not distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants. Has been done

Some USC students said they felt intimidated by the protesters, including Kobi Rousseau, a Jewish Israeli.

“They’re yelling, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ which was federally deemed anti-Semitic hate speech,” Rousseau told KTLA 5 News. “I don’t even know how they were allowed to do this.”

The Anti-Defamation League says the phrase is anti-Semitic and “essentially a call for a Palestinian state stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, an area that also includes the State of Israel, which would mean eliminating the Jewish state. ,” and that it “has long been used by anti-Israel voices, including supporters of terrorist organizations such as Hamas.”

The US House of Representatives earlier this month passed a bipartisan resolution condemning the chant as anti-Semitic.

A growing number of American college students are gathering in protest camps with a unified demand for their schools to: Stop doing business with Israel – or any company that supports the ongoing war in Gaza.

This demand has its roots in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, a decades-long campaign against Israel’s policies toward Palestinians. The movement has gained new strength as the Israel-Hamas war passes the six-month mark and stories of suffering in Gaza have sparked international calls for a ceasefire.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Footage of the protest unfolding can be seen in the video player above.