Police clear pro-Palestinian encampment at University of Southern California
LOS ANGELES: Police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Southern California without making arrests on Sunday following turmoil at universities across the United States over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The intervention at USC followed a raucous day on Saturday when dozens of people were arrested were arrested at a number of US campuses. Various US universities with graduation ceremonies being held on Sunday braced for potential protests after on campuses the previous day.
Police officers entered the USC encampment at about 5 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) and worked with the university’s Department of Public Safety to remove tents as dozens of student demonstrators peacefully left the area, police said.
USC President Carol Folt said in a statement “the occupation was spiraling in a dangerous direction over the last several days,” leading her to request police intervention. She said the camp was cleared peacefully, without arrests, in 64 minutes. In an intervention at USC last month, police arrested 93 people when demonstrators surrendered without resistance.
The relative calm at USC stood in contrast to confrontations at dozens of campuses across the country where police have arrested more than 2,000 people. The demonstrations have emerged as a political flashpoint during a contentious U.S. election year as Democratic President Joe Biden seeks a second term in office.
At UCLA, where pro-Israeli demonstrators clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters last week and where police arrested more than 200 people in clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment, Chancellor Gene Block announced the creation of a new Office of Campus Safety and appointed a leader, former Sacramento police chief Rick Braziel, who will report directly to Block.
“Our campus has been shaken by events that have disturbed this sense of safety and strained trust within our community,” Block said in a statement announcing the appointment.
The unrest led Democratic U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders to compare campus protests to those against the Vietnam War that contributed to Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s decision not to seek re-election in 1968. “This may be Biden’s Vietnam,” Sanders said.
At the University of Texas in Austin on Sunday, drones deployed by police circled overhead as about 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied, with about 50 onlookers.
The speakers advised fellow demonstrators to remain peaceful and not engage the police. Students and other protesters have called upon universities to divest any financial investments tied to Israel and push for a ceasefire in Gaza.