Tension, fistfights, and an oversized police and private security presence characterized dueling demonstrations at the University of California, Los Angeles, while the University of Southern California campus reopened Sunday after shutting down to discourage Palestinian supporters from returning on Saturday night.
The protests were accompanied by calls to respect the pro-Palestinian protesters’ rights to free speech and free expression, including a call in an editorial from UCLA’s campus newspaper, the Daily Bruin.
“While maintaining safety during protests is important, the responses to nonviolent pro-Palestine demonstrations from numerous universities this week have been extreme and unwarranted, with these institutions using the guise of ‘safety’ to silence student activism,” said the editorial, citing examples from Texas and New York.
“One of the five True Bruin Values we are preached about upon committing to UCLA is ‘Respect.’ So long as protesters remain respectful of the rights and dignity of other students, we expect the university to do the same in return.”
Members of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice scheduled a 9:30 a.m. demonstration to support students’ right to protest, in response to a request from pro-Palestine protesters at the campus.
Meanwhile, a group called Stand With Us scheduled an 11 a.m. rally at UCLA to show support for Israel’s actions in Gaza. The rally was co-sponsored by the United Jewish Coalition in partnership with the Israeli American Council and several related organizations.
According to the Daily Bruin, members of both groups were facing off on the lawn between Haines Hall and Kaplan Hall Sunday morning.
“This morning, a group of demonstrators breached a barrier that the university had established separating two groups of protestors on our campus, resulting in physical altercations,” Mary Osako, vice chancellor of UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a statement provided to City News Service.
“UCLA has a long history of being a place of peaceful protest, and we are heartbroken about the violence that broke out.”
Among the speakers at the pro-Israel rally was Elan Carr, CEO of the Israeli American Council.
“We will take back our campuses, from Columbia to UCLA and everywhere in between,” he told the crowd, according to the Daily Bruin.
Later in the afternoon, a phalanx of campus police entered the area to keep the groups apart. The Daily Bruin reported that the pro-Israel group had largely dispersed.
The makeshift cluster of more than 50 camping tents for the pro-Palestine protesters began forming early Thursday and continued to grow over the weekend.
The growing number of pro-Palestine protesters has been met with an equally fervent group of counter-protesters who played loud music near the encampment and shouted chants about Palestine preceded by obscenities.
One counter-protester stomped on a Palestinian flag at the encampment while another ripped posters off the exterior of the encampment, the Daily Bruin reported.
Organizers of UCLA’s Palestine Solidarity Encampment, similar to their counterparts at USC, issued a list of demands calling for divestment of all University of California and UCLA Foundation funds from companies tied to Israel, along with a demand that the university call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and an academic boycott by UC against Israeli universities, including a suspension of study-abroad programs.
It was unclear whether all of the participants were UCLA students, although known members of far right and white nationalist groups have been appearing at various campuses nationally in order to sow chaos and violence.
The University of California issued a statement Friday noting that the university has “consistently opposed calls for boycott against and divestment from Israel. While the University affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints, a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses.
“UC tuition and fees are the primary funding sources for the University’s core operations. None of these funds are used for investment purposes,” the statement continued.
Meanwhile, USC’s main campus re-opened to students, faculty and authorized guests Sunday after it was shut down Saturday night amid the return of an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
“The University Park Campus is once again open to students, staff, faculty and registered guests. The McCarthy and McClintock gates are open,” school officials said in a message to the campus community Sunday morning.
The re-installation of the Divest From Death Coalition encampment along USC’s Alumni Park prompted a response from more than 60 Los Angeles Police Department vehicles and the temporary issuance of a citywide tactical alert, citing “disturbances” on campus and urging the public to avoid the area.
Late Saturday, video on social media showed a young woman using red spray paint to write the words “say no to genocide” on the base of the school’s iconic Tommy Trojan statue.
At about 11:30 p.m., workers from the university’s Facilities Planning and Management department covered the graffiti by placing a tarp over the statue’s pedestal.
At 8:13 p.m., campus police announced, “Due to a disturbance, the University Park Campus is temporarily closed except for residents.”
Joel Curran, USC’s senior vice president of communications, characterized the ongoing demonstrations as “illegal.”
“Earlier Saturday, campus property — including the Tommy Trojan statue and a fountain in Alumni Park — was vandalized by individuals who are part of the group that has continued to illegally camp on our campus,” Curran said in a statement to the Daily Trojan student newspaper.
“Despite repeated warnings, this group has also continued to disrupt our campus operations and harass students and others, in violation of numerous university policies.
“While the university fully supports freedom of expression, these acts of vandalism and harassment are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. President Carol Folt has made numerous attempts to meet with the students but they have declined these offers. We are hoping for a more reasonable response Sunday before we are forced to take further action. This area is needed for commencement set up early this week.”
Law enforcement told reporters that no arrests were made Saturday night, and the tactical alert was canceled as of 11 p.m.
Also Saturday, the Undergraduate Student Government Executive Cabinet issued a statement saying that it was “deeply disappointed in your administration’s use of force in response to the peaceful encampment on university grounds.”
The statement opposed the mobilization of LAPD officers who arrested 93 people last Wednesday.
“On April 24th, 2024, we watched as the University of Southern California’s administration leveraged university resources and mobilized the Los Angeles Police Department in riot gear against our own students and faculty. The excessive use of force shook our Trojan Family, with feelings of unsafety and alarm reaching far beyond the perimeters of our university,” the statement said.
“The excessive use of force shook our Trojan Family,” it added. “Student expression and assembly is not a disruption — it is woven into the very fabric that creates our vibrant, active and diverse campus community.”
In San Diego and Orange counties, university campuses remained relatively quiet throughout the weekend.
City News Service contributed to this report.