Developing | Clashes erupt at UCLA between rival groups as Gaza war protests rock US campuses
Clashes broke out on Wednesday at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, US television media footage showed, as dozens of universities around the United States struggle to contain similar protests.
According to CNN, the clashes erupted just before dawn between rival pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups.
LA police department “is responding immediately to (the university Chancellor’s) request for support on campus,” said Zach Seidl, a spokesman for the city mayor, in a post on social media platform X.
Protesters and counterprotesters were seen clashing with sticks, and tearing down metal barricades, TV images showed.
Others were seen launching fireworks or hurling objects at each other in the dark – lit up with laser pointers and bright flashlights.
UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block warned ahead of clashes that protesters including “both members of the UCLA community and others unaffiliated with our campus” had set up a camp last week.
“Many of the demonstrators, as well as counter-demonstrators who have come to the area, have been peaceful in their activism,” Block warned in a letter posted on the university website on Tuesday.
“But the tactics of others have frankly been shocking and shameful.”
“We have seen instances of violence”.
“These incidents have put many on our campus, especially our Jewish students, in a state of anxiety and fear,” he said.
More to come …