Pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles briefly formed a new encampment and then occupied a campus building on Thursday, but police in riot gear were called in to break up the demonstration.
The protest, which drew hundreds of people, came on the same day that UCLA's president was grilled at a congressional hearing over his handling of a similar encampment last month.
By the afternoon, about 70 protesters had entered Dodd Hall, an academic building, and blocked the doors with computer cables and jackets. One protester used a megaphone to ask anyone not affiliated with UCLA to leave, acknowledging the ad hoc nature of the protest. “We’re building this plane as we fly it.”
But just hours after protesters entered the building, police officers in riot gear stormed in and cleared it, in stark contrast to what Republican lawmakers criticized as a slow response to protests in late April.
Protesters initially set up a small encampment early Thursday in an area known as Kirkhoff Patio, but quickly abandoned it when helmeted and baton-wielding officers arrived. Protesters then fled to an area near Murphy Hall, where they gathered at one point to about 300 people, with some eventually moving to Dodd Hall.
Student activists in recent weeks have called on universities to divest from companies they see as fueling Israel's war in Gaza. A demonstration in April was one of the most high-profile campus protests this year, when pro-Israel opposition groups stormed the camp and more than 200 protesters were arrested. No opponents have been arrested.
Thursday's protest was short and relatively peaceful, with police quickly responding and students fleeing. University officials said they had no knowledge of any arrests.
University officials said in a statement that protesters had blocked parts of the campus and were “disrupting campus operations.”
“Demonstrators were informed that if they did not disperse they would face arrest and disciplinary action and would be ordered to stay off campus for seven days,” officials wrote, adding that the order applied to anyone regardless of university affiliation.
Thursday's action came as UCLA President Gene D. Block and leaders from Northwestern and Rutgers universities testified before a Republican-led House committee about allegations of anti-Semitism on their campuses. Dr. Block defended the universities' response to the April encampment but also said he was concerned about rising anti-Semitism on campuses across the country.
“In hindsight, we should have been prepared to remove the encampment immediately if the safety of our community was at risk,” said Dr. Block, who is due to step down as university president at the end of July.
He came under grilling from Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who pressed him on why no counter-protesters who attacked a pro-Palestinian camp last month had been arrested. Dr. Block said the university was investigating the attack.
The UCLA chapter of Students for Justice for Palestine said the hearing was a “textbook example of political theater” that “conflated calls for Palestinian liberation with anti-Semitism” and sought to stifle pro-Palestinian causes. The group denounced it as a “McCarthyist” attempt to censor protesters.