Police have cleared an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) after tearing down barriers and detaining demonstrators. A massive cleanup effort is now underway.

Los Angeles

Cleanup operations are currently underway at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) after a pro-Palestinian protesters' encampment was dismantled in front of Royce Hall. The site clearance began with police officers ensuring the area was void of any individuals following the encampment's existence for approximately seven days. Personal belongings are being sought by returning students and demonstrators who were not arrested during the police action.

In the early hours, law enforcement personnel commenced the dismantlement of the encampment, employing measures such as flash bangs to manage the situation. Authorities report that more than 130 individuals were arrested and taken to processing by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The police action concluded a week-long presence of the encampment, which became the site of confrontations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators, leading to instances of chaos and violence.

The cleanup process includes removing plywood barriers and other materials used to fortify the encampment. A vast amount of supplies, including food, water, and tools, was discovered at the site, indicating preparation for an extended stay by the protesters. media access to the area is now restricted as sanitation efforts proceed. Despite the disbandment of the encampment, statements from some protesters suggest the possibility of continued activism. UCLA has responded by advocating for free speech while expressing opposition to the establishment of another encampment, with classes being held remotely in the interim.



Cleanup begins of dismantled UCLA encampment

A massive cleanup is underway now here on the UCLA campus right outside of Royce Hall. Dozens of people just about an hour ago started clearing this area. We saw police officers first go in to make sure there weren't any people left because we did see a number of students and protesters coming back. Those were students who were not arrested and they were coming back trying to get any kind of personal items. But you can see right here happening in front of us, people are taking the plywood away. That plywood was what was kind of barricading this area for about seven days for this encampment. And then early this morning at around 3 a.m. this really all started to kick off. Let's show you that video to show you exactly what it was like here on the UCLA campus. You can see officers going through that plywood kind of dismantling this huge encampment here that's on campus and at that time there were also flash bangs. A lot of people out here, hundreds of protesters were told some of those protesters did leave before getting arrested but more than 130 people were arrested and detained and booked and put on booking buses from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as well. A number of police agencies all working together in a coordinated effort to remove this encampment here this morning after seven days. And that's really following all of the chaos and violence that unfolded Tuesday into Wednesday morning when there were clashes between both the pro-Israel and the pro-Palestinian side when the pro-Israel protesters tried to gain access into this pro-Palestinian encampment. Now again you're taking a look at the aftermath here as the cleanup crews are continuing to dismantle this but I gotta tell you they've now started to put these barricades in place to make sure that media does not get through this area while they sanitize but before they did that we were walking through this area here and it truly is incredible just to see the amount of supplies that these students and protesters had. We're talking about days worth of food and water also tools like drills, nails, batteries, all of types of equipment to make sure they were able to be out here for several days because they did not want this encampment to be taken down. So we'll really have to see what happens because before the protesters were removed from this area there were a few saying things like this is not over and trying to remain on campus and UCLA did say that they will continue to allow students to promote free speech but they don't want another encampment so we're really going to have to watch this but UCLA does have classes remote today and tomorrow.

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