Violence flares at UCLA as police end protests at New York's Columbia

By: asiaone.com

May 02 2024
54
2577 Views

Violence flares at UCLA as police end protests at New York's Columbia — Violence flares at UCLA as pol

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK — Mounting tensions on US campuses boiled over on Wednesday (May 1) when pro-Israel supporters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA, hours after police arrested activists who occupied a building at Columbia University and cleared a tent city from its campus.

Eyewitness videos from the University of California at Los Angeles, verified by Reuters, showed people wielding sticks or poles to hammer on wooden boards being used as makeshift barricades to protect the pro-Palestinian protesters before police were called to the campus.

The university cancelled classes for the day on Wednesday, and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the school would conduct an investigation "that may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals."

In a statement, Block said the "appalling" assault on pro-Palestinian demonstrators, which came hours after their encampment was declared an unlawful assembly by UCLA, was committed "by a group of instigators."