This is the moment Oregon police retaken the Portland State University library amid another night of fresh chaos on a college campus as authorities try to destroy anti-Israel camps across the country.
PSU’s Millar Library had been busy since Monday. During the cleanup, police arrested at least 30 activists.
Earlier at PSU, footage emerged showing a student protester crashing into a police officer while holding a makeshift shield and being arrested.
The video shows two masked protesters carrying shields made from trash cans running directly toward a police officer as people cheer in the background.
One of the protesters is then seen colliding with the official, but ends up knocked to the ground.
Portland police stormed the Millar Library Thursday night to retake it after it had been occupied by anti-Israel protesters since Monday.
Activists had blocked access to the library, slowing police progress.
A look at some of the weapons protesters were stockpiling.
The protesters are detained by the police after the raid.
Elsewhere, in the predawn hours, helmeted police invaded a tent city set up at the University of California, Los Angeles, using stun grenades and riot gear to push through lines of protesters who linked arms in a futile attempt to stop its advance.
Los Angeles police said on social media that 210 people were arrested at UCLA and hundreds of arrests were made at other universities overnight and Thursday.
“I’m a student here,” one UCLA protester told cameras as he was led away with his hands tied. ‘Please don’t fail us. Don’t fail us.’
Hours later, the student, who gave his name only as Ryan, was back on campus and vowed he would not stop fighting.
“We’ll be back,” said Ryan, who was cited for unlawful assembly. ‘We will be disrupting. “We will demand divestment.”
Students have demonstrated or set up tents at dozens of universities in recent days to protest Israel’s war on Gaza.
Protesters have called on President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel’s right to defend itself, to do more to stop the bloodshed in Gaza and demanded that schools divest from companies that support Israel’s government.
Many of the schools, including Columbia University in New York City, have called in police to quell the protests.
Police officers scuffle with protesters trying to block vehicles taking away the detained students, who had been occupying Portland State University’s Millar Library.
Protesters at Portland State University raided the school’s library and painted pro-Palestinian messages on the walls.
Biden broke his silence on Thursday’s protests after the UCLA raid, saying Americans have the right to protest but not to unleash violence.
“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest,” he said at the White House. ‘It is against the law. Vandalism, breaking and entering, breaking windows, campus closures, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations: none of this is peaceful protest.’
Biden, who is seeking re-election in November against former Republican President Donald Trump, has walked a careful line in facing criticism from both the left and the right over his Israel policy.
At UCLA, police repeatedly urged protesters to clear the protest zone, which occupied a central plaza the size of a football field, before entering.
Dozens of loud explosions were heard from stun grenades fired by police, as protesters, some with makeshift shields and umbrellas, shouted “push them back” and shone bright lights in the officers’ eyes.
Live television footage showed officers dismantling tents and tearing down makeshift barricades.
Some of the protesters were seen wearing helmets, goggles and breathing masks in anticipation of the siege, a day after the university declared the camp illegal.
Pro-Palestinian protester treated “after being macerated” during violent clashes at UCLA
Violence erupted overnight at UCLA before police finally intervened to restore calm.
On Tuesday night, police raided a hall at Columbia University where activists had occupied the building.
In the morning, the square was strewn with remains of the destroyed camp: tents, blankets, food containers, a Palestinian flag and an upside-down helmet. Police remained on hand for the first half of the day while the area was cleared of debris.
In Portland, Oregon, police entered the Portland State University library Thursday morning, where protesters had barricaded themselves since Monday. Several dozen protesters ran out of the building and pounced on a phalanx of riot police, who arrested them.
Police made more arrests at the library Thursday night as protesters attempted to retake it. A university spokesperson said it was a “very fluid situation.”
In New Hampshire, police arrested about 100 protesters in separate incidents at Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire overnight, dismantling the encampments.
The protests follow the deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,200 people and took dozens hostage, and the subsequent Israeli offensive that killed some 34,000 people. and created a humanitarian crisis.
Demonstrations on campus have been met with counter-protesters who accuse them of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred. The pro-Palestinian side, including some Jews who oppose Israeli actions in Gaza, say they are being unfairly branded anti-Semitic for criticizing Israel’s government and expressing support for human rights.
UCLA had canceled classes Wednesday following a violent confrontation between the camp’s occupants and a group of masked counterprotesters who staged a surprise assault Tuesday night on the tent city.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, in a written statement, said officials had allowed the camp to remain on campus for several days because it was peaceful at first, but that clashes with the pro-Israel crowd clearly put students in danger. danger.
“This created unsafe conditions on our campus and harmed our ability to carry out our mission,” Block said of the camp. “It had to come to an end.”
Taylor Gee, a 30-year-old pro-Palestinian protester and UCLA law student, said Thursday’s police operation seemed “especially galling” to many protesters given the slow police response the night before.
“Them coming out the next night to get us out of the camp doesn’t make any sense, but it also makes all the sense in the world,” he said.
UCLA officials said the campus, with nearly 52,000 students, would remain closed except for limited operations on Thursday and Friday.