Counterprotesters Shoot Fireworks Into UCLA Encampment
As the police takeover of the Columbia University campus wrapped up on Tuesday night, another clash was just beginning at the University of California Los Angeles.
KABC Los Angeles reports that a large number of counterprotesters arrived on campus around 11 p.m. on Tuesday and began attacking a pro-Palestinian encampment. Videos showed that counterprotesters shot fireworks into the camp where students have been set up since last week:
Fireworks pic.twitter.com/OglRgNncFL
— Mel Buer (@mel_buer) May 1, 2024
Another firework in the camp pic.twitter.com/aJN4HTeHlI
— Mel Buer (@mel_buer) May 1, 2024
As counterprotesters arrived on the scene, students brought wooden pallets and plywood to the outer barrier of the encampment to block them from entry. While video from the beginning of the clash shows a small number of police officers present, the officers did not stop counterprotesters as they began to attack the encampment. The New York Times reports there were roughly 200 counterprotesters. According to the Los Angeles Times, the counterprotesters began chanting “Second Nakba,” referring to the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in 1948. Videos from last night also show counterprotesters violently assaulting members of the encampment, while the school’s paper states that four of its reporters were assaulted.
Pro-Israel counterprotestors started tearing down @UCLA encampment barriers and screamed "Second nakba!" referring to the mass displacement & dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Per @latimes @safinazzal on the scene with another video: pic.twitter.com/zSplnd1bYO
— Teresa Watanabe (@TeresaWatanabe) May 1, 2024
Pro-Israeli counter-protesters dressed like Proud Boys violently attack UCLA students for marching for Gaza. pic.twitter.com/n1qyv6e3AV
— Kuffiya (@Kuffiyateam) May 1, 2024
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers began to step in to stop the violent skirmishes around 1:30 a.m. — roughly two and a half hours after the conflict began. By morning, at least one person had been driven away in an ambulance, per CBS, though the full number of injuries and arrests remain unclear. UCLA announced that all classes will be canceled for Wednesday.
Police officials and college administrations throughout the country have responded more forcefully this week to student encampments. At City College in Manhattan, police stated that 173 people were arrested in the crackdown on Tuesday night, though it is not clear how many of those were students, as it is an open campus. Thirty-one students were arrested at California State Polytechnic University on Tuesday after demonstrators took over two administrative buildings last week. And early on Wednesday morning, police with riot shields broke up the encampment at the University of Wisconsin Madison.