OAN’s James Meyers
12:42 PM – Thursday, May 2, 2024
Following unrest at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), law enforcement has initiated arrests of anti-Israel demonstrators protesting against Israel.
Police removed barricades and began tearing apart the encampments at UCLA after hundreds of protesters defied orders to leave from the school, with some forming human chains as police fired flash-bangs to break up the crowds.
Over 200 people have been arrested so far at the university, according to Sgt. Alejandro Rubio of the California Highway Patrol.
During the early hours of Thursday morning, officers wearing body armor, helmets and face shields dismantled barricades as protesters tried to hold together the assemblage of plywood and metal fencing.
Rubio said those arrested were being booked at the county jail complex near downtown, Los Angeles. According to a source within law enforcement, UCLA police reported that many individuals were booked on suspicion of failing to disperse, a misdemeanor, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The arrests came after officers spent several hours threatening arrests over loudspeakers if people did not leave.
A crowd of over 1,000 anti-Israel protesters gathered on campus, many of who barricaded inside a tent encampment. This led to pandemonium on the campus as multiple fights broke out and even firecrackers were thrown into the madness.
Police helicopters were seen hovering over the campus, while throwing flash bangs to disperse the crowd. Protesters then chanted at police, “Where were you last night?”
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden on Thursday addressed the protests that are happening across the country saying “it doesn’t mean that anything goes.”
“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is peaceful protest,” Biden said. “Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education.”
He reiterated that discrimination should never be tolerated.
“There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. It’s simply wrong,” he said.
In the meantime, UCLA has moved all classes online for the rest of the week due to the protests on campus.
Protests have continued to increase across the country as anti-Israel protesters have continued to call for Universities to cut ties with Israel altogether.
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