Counterprotesters stormed a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles.Credit…Mark Abramson for The New York Times
Police officers arrived on college campuses across the U.S., and scores of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had erected encampments and seized buildings were arrested.
Officers last night ordered protesters to leave their encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, or face arrest. A stream of students left the encampment after the warning, but hundreds remained inside, putting on helmets, masks and goggles as dozens of officers waited nearby.
The night before, violent clashes erupted when a group of about 200 counterprotesters stormed the encampment, pepper-spraying protesters and trying to demolish barricades. The two groups fought until officers quieted the unrest around 3:30 in the morning.
In New York City, police officers in riot gear arrested demonstrators at Fordham University’s Manhattan campus, the third university in the city, after Columbia and the City College of New York, to face mass arrests in 24 hours.
Despite more than 1,300 arrests of protesters across the country since April 18, according to a count by The New York Times, students at many universities appeared to have no intention of backing down.
