A encampment to show solidarity with Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war was established at UC Irvine Monday, adding to the list of students on college campuses nationwide.
The protest came as Irvine’s mayor warned the university against any law enforcement action to break up the gathering.
By early afternoon, however, a showing of law enforcement including the Orange County Sheriff’s Department began gathering in a university parking lot near the protesters’ occupation area.
Their presence prompted Irvine Mayor Farrah N. Khan to issue a statement defending the right to peacefully protest at colleges and universities.
“I am asking our law enforcement to stand down,” Khan said. “I will not tolerate any violations to our students’ rights to peacefully assemble and protest.”
“There’s a group of protesters who have set up a small tent village in the physical sciences plaza,” UCI spokesman Tom Vasich said, adding there were about 13 or 14 tents.
“Overall there are about 100 protesters on site right now,” he said just after 3 p.m.
The campus police department asked for assistance from sheriff’s deputies, Vasich said.
There were no immediate reports of any disturbances or arrests connected with the protest as of Monday afternoon.
The action at UCI follows a weekend of similar encampments at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.
City News Service contributed to this report.