On Thursday, a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters set up barricades outside a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as Chancellor Gene Block testified at Capitol Hill.
The live video from SkyFOX showed protesters assembling large plywood and metal barriers while setting up tables and tents in the courtyard of Moore Hall.
Republicans in the House of Representatives summoned leaders from UCLA, Northwestern University, and Rutgers University on Thursday to testify regarding the concessions they made to end campus demonstrations by pro-Palestinian protesters.
One of the doctoral students involved in setting up the barricades, Ethan, explained to FOX 11 that they were there because the University of California had not divested from companies related to Israel, amounting to around $3.2 billion. He stated that they would continue to fight and pressure the school to divest as much as possible. Ethan said, “We will stay here for however long it takes.”
UCLA Police Department issued a mutual aid request. Currently, the Beverly Hills Police Department will dispatch three teams and a supervisor in response to this request.
Just a day earlier, UCLA campus police chief John Thomas was temporarily reassigned due to “pending review of security processes.” The school’s statement mentioned that it was unclear what role Thomas was reassigned to. Thomas has been the chief of the UCLA campus police department since January.
Regarding the divestment demands of pro-Palestinian protesters, the University of California issued a statement on April 26 stating, “The (school) consistently opposes boycotts of Israel and divestment from Israel-linked entities. While UCLA affirms the right of our community members to express differing viewpoints, such boycotts infringe upon the academic freedom of our students and faculty, as well as the unrestricted exchange of ideas on campus.”
The statement indicated, “Student tuition fees are a primary source of funding for the university’s core operations, and these funds are not used for investment purposes.”
Tensions on campuses due to the Israel-Hamas conflict have been ongoing since last fall and have escalated sharply in recent weeks with a wave of pro-Palestinian tent camps protests. According to the Associated Press, over 3,000 people have been arrested nationwide.
In early May, UCLA became the focus of national attention due to a violent incident: a mostly masked group of counter-protesters launched an attack on the pro-Palestinian camp on campus, which was widely criticized for the delayed police response.
On the following night, hundreds of law enforcement officers from different agencies flooded the campus, dismantled the camp, and arrested 209 individuals.
A few days after the camp was cleared, UCLA Chancellor Block announced he had appointed Vice Chancellor Rick Braziel as the director of the newly established Campus Safety Office, which will oversee the police department.
In addition to the leaders of Northwestern University, Rutgers University, and UCLA, leaders from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Columbia University were also subpoenaed to testify in Congress earlier.