Police officers in riot gear arrested dozens of protesters and began dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, San Diego early Monday in the first sweep by law enforcement at the campus since the demonstration began last week.
Videos from the scene showed police officers wearing helmets and carrying batons as they handcuffed protesters and led them away from the tents. The university said in a statement that the police had dismantled the encampment and that one person had suffered a “minor injury.”
The U.C. San Diego Police Department arrested 64 people, 40 of whom were confirmed to be students, said Matt Nagel, a university spokesman. All of the students would immediately face an interim suspension, he said.
Students erected the encampment on the sprawling Southern California campus on Wednesday and demanded that the university condemn Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. They also demanded that the university sever ties with Israeli institutions and divest from weapons manufacturers or similar companies.
In recent days, the group held a series of events on the university’s Library Walk, drawing a few hundred people at times. Students participated in prayers, learned about historical student movements and spoke with concern about Israel’s potential invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.
The university’s chancellor, Pradeep Khosla, said on Sunday that the encampment had tripled in size and that it had posed “an unacceptable safety and security hazard on campus.” Mr. Khosla also said that protesters had reneged on their assurances that they would not expand the encampment and that they had denied access to a fire marshal and health inspectors.
Noting an earlier pro-Palestinian demonstration in March, Mr. Khosla said the campus supported the right of students to express themselves, but he said that the encampment was “not a peaceful protest” because it violated the law and campus policy.
The university moved all in-person classes on Monday to remote instruction.
