Campus teams have been forced to clean up abandoned Gaza camps at American universities after police broke up protests and arrested protesters who abandoned their trash.
More than 200 protesters were arrested and one officer was injured after a tense confrontation between anti-Israel protesters and police at UCLA on Thursday morning.
Police destroyed tents and umbrellas used as shields, while detainees left signs and camping supplies.
The front of Royce Hall and Powell Library was covered in graffiti and the remains of supplies were scattered around the area, including batteries, flashlights, food and plywood.
“UCLA facilities crews are now in the process of tearing down structures and cleaning up the courtyard, and we ask that students, staff and faculty continue to avoid the area,” the university said.
UCLA teams use bulldozer to remove remains from Gaza camp
UCLA workers strategically cleaning the camp, separating valuable items from trash.
Police pass by as people work to clean up trash left by anti-Israel protesters at UCLA
Abandoned tents and trash at the site of a pro-Palestinian camp
The front of Royce Hall and Powell Library was covered in graffiti and trash.
Piles of trash pile up as crews work to clean up UCLA camp in Gaza
Classes on Thursday and Friday are being held remotely, while university teams worked to clean up the mess.
All campus employees were “encouraged to work remotely whenever possible.”
Video taken by SkyFOX It showed UCLA workers strategically cleaning the camp and separating valuable items from trash.
According to a CHP spokesperson, objects, including water bottles, were thrown at officers.
Campus police are present as crews operate bulldozers to remove remains of the ruined camp.
There have been at least 2,138 arrests at at least 60 colleges and institutions across the country, according to a NBC News Recount.
Portland police arrested at least 12 people at Portland State University, where people barricaded themselves inside the library on Thursday.
Photos show broken ceilings and graffiti inside and outside the library. Barricades made from football goalposts, overturned tables, chairs, and other items continued to block the library’s entrance, and interior walls were spray-painted with graffiti.
“We have found caches of tools, what appear to be improvised weapons, ball bearings, paint balloons, spray ink bottles and DIY armor,” the Portland Police Bureau said.
Nationwide campus demonstrations began in Columbia on April 17 to protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7.
The militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took approximately 250 hostages. Israel, which has vowed to end Hamas, has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the area’s Health Ministry.
Portland police arrested at least 12 people at Portland State University, where people barricaded themselves inside the library on Thursday.
Photos show broken ceilings and graffiti inside and outside the library.
Private security agents and New York police stand guard at the gates of Columbia University after clearing its camp in Gaza.
In New York, Stony Brook University officials said 29 people were arrested early Thursday morning, including students, faculty members and others not affiliated with the school. School administrators said the protests began peacefully but escalated to include bullying, harassment and a camp.
Protesters at Columbia University broke windows, overturned furniture and caused damage throughout Hamilton Hall during the occupation before police stormed the campus and arrested more than 100 protesters Tuesday night.
Photographs and videos taken afterwards show the destroyed interior of the room, covered with activists’ belongings.
Police broke into Hamilton Hall through an upstairs window after students used furniture to block the entrance.
The images show how chairs and desks have been turned over to become makeshift barriers. The cost of damage to the building is likely to run into the thousands of dollars.
The University of Texas said Thursday that 17 people were arrested Wednesday on trespassing charges after protesters refused to comply with orders to tear down an encampment built on the main walkway of the Dallas campus.
At the University of Pennsylvania and McGill University in Montreal, Canada, officers lined up to separate opposing sides of protesters. Both sides waved flags while supporting Israel and opposing the war in Gaza.
More than 200 protesters were arrested and one officer was injured after a tense confrontation between anti-Israel protesters and police at UCLA on Thursday morning.
The police destroyed tents and umbrellas that they used as shields, while the detainees left posters and camping material.
The front of Royce Hall and Powell Library was covered in graffiti and trash and leftover supplies were scattered around the area.
Objects, including water bottles, were thrown at officers, according to a CHP spokesperson.
President Joe Biden has finally addressed the chaos caused by pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses across the country.
‘Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law,’ he said Thursday from the Roosevelt Room. ‘Vandalism, breaking and entering, breaking windows and closing campus, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. “None of this is a peaceful protest.”
“There is a right to protest,” he continued. “But not the right to cause chaos.”
Biden spoke after police scuffled with protesters as they tore down barricades at the UCLA camp in Gaza after hundreds of anti-Israel students defied orders to leave.
“We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or crush dissent,” Biden said. ‘The American people are heard. In fact, peaceful protest follows the best tradition of how Americans respond to important issues.
‘But we are not a lawless country either. We are a civil society. And order must prevail,’ the president continued.