Chancellor Gene Block orders the eviction of the Palestine solidarity encampment

After six days of protest, the UCLA Palestine solidarity encampment was cleared by police in the early morning hours of Thursday, May 2. Police breached the wooden encampment barriers from the corner of Dickson Plaza near Haines Hall and the stairs leading from the Fowler Museum to Royce Hall. Solidarity protesters were forcibly dispersed by law enforcement using tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bangs. Once inside, police officers tore down tents and emptied the area of protesters. Protesters spilled onto Janss/Kuruvungna Steps, chanting a promise of their return.

UCLA sent out a statement to protesters inside the encampment on April 30, stating that the encampment was “unlawful and violates university policy” and that they should leave or potentially face disciplinary actions. This set into motion the forceful eviction of the protest by UCLA administration, resulting in the arrest of over 200 student and faculty protesters. Student protests across the country have drawn allusions to historic student movements like the 1960s-70s Vietnam anti-war protests; history will have its say on whether the parallels continue.

Police issued a dispersal order to protesters inside the Palestine solidarity encampment on the evening of Wednesday, May 1. As protesters reinforced their barricades on Wednesday night, police forces from California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Santa Monica Police Department staged in parking lots across campus, loading up in riot gear, carrying flash bangs, tear gas launchers and rubber-bullet guns. At around 3 a.m. Thursday morning, a BruinALERT message went out to all students warning students, “Police have ordered an evacuation of Dickson Plaza due to an unlawful assembly.” Police then set up a speaker in Royce Hall that threatened the arrest of protesters who did not abide by the evacuation order.

Police presence on the UCLA campus grew significantly following the violent events seen on the night of April 30, when pro-Israel counter-protesters dressed in face masks and even military garb were recorded instigating an attack on the encampment by breaching past campus security toward the camp’s barriers.

Chancellor Gene Block sent out a message on Thursday afternoon after the events, stating that he and the administration brought UCPD and outside law enforcement to clear the encampment due to it being “unlawful and a breach of policy.” Tension lingers over campus as all physical evidence of the encampment is removed by campus groundskeepers.