Columbia protests updates | Clashes erupt on UCLA campus between pro-Palestinian supporters and counter-protesters in LA

Violent clashes erupted early on Wednesday morning on the campus of the University of California in Los Angeles between pro-Palestinian protesters and a group of counter-demonstrators supporting Israel.

Police were deployed to the campus after the Israel supporters tried to tear down a pro-Palestinian protest encampment, according to the UCLA student newspaper Daily Bruin.

Footage from broadcaster KABC, an ABC affiliate, showed people wielding sticks or poles to attack wooden boards being held up as a makeshift barricade to protect pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom held placards or umbrellas.

The Los Angeles Police Department said on X it was responding to UCLA’s request “due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus”, to restore order and maintain public safety.

Clashes broke out on Wednesday around pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of California, Los Angeles, US television media footage showed, as universities around the United States struggle to contain similar protests on dozens of campuses.

LA police department “is responding immediately to (the university Chancellor’s) request for support on campus,” said Zach Seidl, a spokesman for the city mayor, in a post on social media platform X.

A dramatic scene unfolded late April 30 at 9 P.M. as the New York Police Department (NYPD) brought in a military-grade vehicle with an extendable ramp to gain entry to a window of Hamilton Hall, the campus building occupied by student protestors since April 30 midnight. 

Dozens of NYPD officers in riot gear swarmed Columbia University around 9:30 p.m. and encircled key areas of the campus including the ‘Gaza Solidary Encampment’ and the Hamilton Hall that had been occupied by anti-war student protesters. 

Donald Trump on Tuesday lamented the possibility that Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian protesters could be treated more leniently than the rioters who stormed the US Capitol in January 2021, marking the second time in a week the former president has invoked the ongoing campus protests to downplay past examples of right-wing violence.

Speaking in the hallway outside a Manhattan courtroom where his criminal hush money trial is taking place, Trump questioned whether student demonstrators who seized and barricaded a campus building early Tuesday, some of them vandalising it in the process, would be treated the same way as his supporters who attacked the Capitol on January 6 to stop certification of the presidential results.

“I think I can give you the answer right now,” he said. “And that’s why people have lost faith in our court system.” Trump’s remarks demonstrate anew how he and the Republican Party have tried to minimise the deadliest assault on the seat of American power in over 200 years, arguing that violent or criminal behaviour by the left is a larger threat.

Trump has called the rioters “unbelievable patriots” and has talked openly about the prospect of issuing pardons if he wins a second term.

-AP

A dramatic scene unfolded late April 30 at 9 P.M. as the New York Police Department (NYPD) brought in a military-grade vehicle with an extendable ramp to gain entry to a window of Hamilton Hall, the campus building occupied by student protestors since April 30 midnight. 

Dozens of NYPD officers in riot gear swarmed Columbia University around 9:30 p.m. and encircled key areas of the campus including the ‘Gaza Solidary Encampment’ and the Hamilton Hall that had been occupied by anti-war student protestors. 

Additional crowds of officers entered the campus on foot through the main gate. According to police, flash bangs were used to disorient the protesters as officers made their way inside Hamilton Hall. The officers blocked media and student journalists from entering the premises of Hamilton Hall while putting the entire campus on lockdown till the area was cleared of the protesters. 

NYPD storms Columbia University again to clear out anti-war student protestors

NYPD officers clear Columbia University campus of student protestors in dramatic late-night operation.

For five days, Northwestern University’s Deering Meadow rang with the shouts of student protesters and supporters joining demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses nationwide. 

But Tuesday morning the grassy meadow on Northwestern’s suburban Chicago campus was silent after student organizers and the school announced an agreement late Monday to curb protest activity — in return for a new advisory committee on university investments and other commitments. 

On campus Tuesday, two unoccupied tents remained, surrounded by abandoned folding chairs, cases of bottled water and other supplies. 

Some who are protesting the war in Gaza condemned the agreement as a failure to stick to the original demands of student organizers. Some supporters of Israel said the deal represented “cowardly” capitulation to protesters.

AP

Dozens of helmeted police flooded Columbia University’s campus in the heart of New York City on Tuesday to evict a building occupied by pro-Palestinian student protesters and detain demonstrators.

Police climbed into Hamilton Hall via a second floor window they reached from a laddered truck, before leading handcuffed students out of the building into police vans.

The hall had been occupied at dawn by demonstrators who vowed they would fight any eviction, as they protested the soaring death toll from Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

AFP

Columbia University said Tuesday that students occupying a campus building as part of pro-Palestinian protests face being expelled from their academic programs, the latest move in a standoff with school officials.

“Students occupying the building face expulsion,” Columbia’s office of public affairs said in a statement, adding that the protesters were provided “the opportunity to leave peacefully” but instead declined and escalated the situation. 

AFP

Dozens of helmeted police flooded Columbia University’s campus in the heart of New York City on Tuesday to evict a building occupied by pro-Palestinian student protesters and detain demonstrators.

Police climbed into Hamilton Hall via a second floor window they reached from a laddered truck, before leading handcuffed students out of the building into police vans.

The hall had been occupied at dawn by demonstrators who vowed they would fight any eviction, as they protested the soaring death toll from Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

AFP