SAN DIEGO — Law enforcement arrested 64 individuals at UC San Diego early Monday morning in a large raid on a pro-Palestine encampment erected on campus last week.
A spokesperson with UCSD confirmed that of the 64 arrested, 40 were students, and 24 were either unaffiliated with the campus or their affiliation status is unknown. The university reported that one individual sustained a minor injury but that individuals were largely taken into custody peacefully.
“The arrested students have been or will be placed under immediate interim suspension,” UCSD said in a statement.
Students established the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the university’s Library Walk on Wednesday, joining the national movement on U.S. college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for universities to divest from Israel. Law enforcement dismantled the student encampment shortly after arriving on campus.
Other large-scale demonstrations have been ongoing at USC, UCLA, and UC Berkeley, among other California universities.
Around 6 a.m. on Monday, officers with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, UCSD Police, and the California Highway Patrol descended on the encampment along the university’s Library Walk, arresting protestors and dismantling the site.
Numerous police officers were present as more than 200 students protested outside the Price Center as the police took the arrested people inside. Over the following few hours, protestors attempted to block several Sheriff’s Department buses from departing with the arrested individuals, chanting, “Let them go.”
During this time, dozens more police arrived, including some in riot gear, and began to push students back in order to clear a path for the buses. Some protestors were sprayed with pepper spray and hit with batons, and others were shoved to the ground.
Neither UCSD nor the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department have confirmed the exact charges the arrested protestors are facing.
The day prior to the arrests, UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla ordered participants in the encampment to disperse in a Sunday statement, saying that unauthorized encampments are illegal on campus and that they pose safety risks.
“Nevertheless, the encampment has tripled in size in violation of the group’s commitment not to expand the footprint. This encampment poses an unacceptable safety and security hazard on campus,” Khosla said.
Students for Justice in Palestine at UCSD said they were “disappointed but not surprised” by the chancellor’s statement. The organization also stated that the encampment needed to grow to keep participants safe and accommodate the growing number of protestors.
“We reject the false narrative painted by Chancellor Khosla of the encampment being disruptive or potentially unsafe; the reality is that students have worked around the clock to maintain the safety and support of those involved,” SJP at UCSD said in a Sunday statement.
The organization also said encampment participants have been the subject of harassment by university administrators, police and counter-protestors and that officials have not intervened to protect students.
Over 2,000 students had been arrested during pro-Palestine protests at U.S. colleges in recent weeks, according to the Associated Press.
All university operations were canceled on Monday, and instruction took place remotely. UCSD also canceled its annual Sun God Festival, scheduled for May 4, due to the ongoing demonstration on campus.
Over 34,000 individuals have been killed in Gaza in the ongoing assault by Israel’s government since October, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
