By Elizabeth Wolfe, Kathleen Magramo, Dalia Faheid, Antoinette Radford, Emma Tucker, Anna Cooban, Rachel Ramirez, Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury, Lauren Mascarenhas, Chandelis Duster and Tori B. Powell, CNN
Updated 1512 GMT (2312 HKT) May 2, 2024
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6:09 a.m. ET, May 1, 2024
Police have arrived on UCLA's campus
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
California Highway Patrol officers line up as counter-protesters clash with protesters in support of Palestinians in Gaza at an encampment on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on May 1. David Swanson/Reuters
The Los Angeles Police Department "has arrived on campus" at UCLA, mayor Karen Bass said early on Wednesday.
"The violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable," the mayor said in a post on X.
Before the deployment, pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters were clashing at UCLA, according to multiple reports.
Video from CNN affiliate KABC shows fireworks, objects being thrown, and physical violence among demonstrators.
LAPD also said Wednesday morning they were responding to assist the UCLA Police Department in a post on X.
“At the request of UCLA, due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus, the LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD, and other law enforcement agencies, to restore order and maintain public safety,” LAPD said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said they were closely monitoring the situation at UCLA.
“Law enforcement leaders are in contact this evening and resources are being mobilized,” Newsom’s office said.
5:39 a.m. ET, May 1, 2024
Tensions have been rising across campuses since October. Here’s a glimpse into how the movement began
From CNN's Jordan Valinsky
Tensions on US college campuses have risen since Hamas’ October 7 attack, when militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, according to its health ministry.
Reports of antisemitic acts have surged across America and particularly on college campuses since October 7. Islamophobia has run rampant, too. The recent surge in protests have inflamed those tensions, forcing leadership to decide when free speech on campus crosses a line and becomes threatening.
But the protests particularly ramped up in mid-April at Columbia University, when the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, testified before a House committee about the school’s response to charges of campus antisemitism. A pro-Palestinian protest kicked off on campus at the same time.
Following her testimony, Shafik requested in a letter released by the university that the New York City Police Department remove people who were encamped on the South Lawn of the campus who were “in violation of the University’s rules and policies” and trespassing. More than 100 people were arrested, according to law enforcement.
The encampments were organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a student-led coalition of more than 100 organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, to protest what they describe as the university’s “continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine,” according to its news release.
Pro-Palestinian encampments have since started at campuses across the US, including at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Emerson College, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley.
5:22 a.m. ET, May 1, 2024
Protesters clash on UCLA campus, reports say
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
A violent confrontation has broken out between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israel supporters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), multiple news outlets report.
The clash came hours after UCLA Chancellor Gene Block called a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus "unlawful" on Tuesday night.
Counter protesters confront a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as clashes erupt, in Los Angeles on May 1. Etienne Laurent/AFP/Getty Images
Block said the school had increased security and that students who didn't leave the encampmentwould face disciplinary action.
The encampment "is unlawful and violates university policy,” Block said in a statement.
The Daily Bruin had reported a standoff between protesters and counter-protesters, and fireworks being launched into the encampment.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators regroup and rebuild the barricade surrounding the encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as clashes erupt with counter protesters, in Los Angeles on May 1. Etienne Laurent/AFP/Getty Images
Video from CNN affiliate KABC shows fireworks, objects being thrown, and physical violence among demonstrators.
Zach Seidl, spokesperson for the L.A. Mayor's office, said in a post on X that the "mayor has spoken to Chancellor Block and Chief Choi. LAPD is responding immediately to Chancellor Block’s request for support on campus.”
It's unclear whether anyone has been seriously injured.
CNN has reached out to UCLA, UCLA Police and LAPD for comment.
4:23 a.m. ET, May 1, 2024
Analysis: Student unrest ratchets up an already tense election year
From CNN's Stephen Collinson
President Joe Biden listens during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on March 1, in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Dramatic campus protests are injecting an inflammatory new element into an election year that is already threatening to stretch national unity to a breaking point.
Tensions spiked late Tuesday following an operation by New York Police Department surge teams to reclaim the Columbia University campus from pro-Palestinian demonstrators and followed scuffles, arrests and canceled classes on at least 25 campuses in 21 states.
The protests were triggered by the terrible civilian toll of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, but they’re now exposing the country’s ideological schisms and new political currents.
The protests are a new test for President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection, with the Gaza war tearing deep rifts in his fragile electoral coalition.
Any president torn between implementing what he thinks is in the US national interest – in this case, defending Israel – and his own political imperatives is in a perilous spot, let alone one who is six months from asking voters for a second term.
And if protests spread and Biden looks like he’s losing control of the country, the political consequences could be ruinous.
Campus protesters are calling for divestment. It's happened before
From CNN's Samantha Delouya
Some of the students graduating from New York's Columbia University use their motarboards to make known their views of the university's financing of companies operating in South Africa on May 15, 1985. Richard Drew/AP
Nearly all pro-Palestinian protests rocking college campuses across the US have called for universities to divest from Israel in some form.
What would divestment look like?
Divestment is the opposite of investment.
Many universities have an endowment, which is donated funds generally invested in stocks, bonds and other financial instruments to help the university earn money.
At Columbia, a group of students wants the college to divest its $13.6 billion endowment from any company linked to Israel, including Microsoft and Amazon.
Protesters at other schools, such as Cornell and Yale, want their universities to stop investing in weapons manufacturers.
What are university officials saying?
On Monday, Columbia’s administration reiterated that it would not divest from Israel. Last week, the University of California also said divestment wouldn’t happen.
But some colleges are willing to talk with protesters.
Christina Paxson, president of Brown University, sent a letter to demonstrators saying she would agree to hear a divestment proposal if the school’s encampment were disbanded, according to the student-run newspaper, the Brown Daily Herald.
They've been here before.
Columbia students protesting South Africa's apartheid racial segregation policy in the 1980s called on the school to sever its financial ties with companies doing business in the country.
Columbia eventually voted to sell most of its stock in South Africa-connected companies. Other colleges followed suit.
Protesters have been arrested on more than 25 campuses across at least 21 states
From CNN's Alex Leeds Matthews, Krystina Shveda, Amy O'Kruk and Renée Rigdon
Police arrest protesters during pro-Palestinian demonstrations at The City College Of New York (CUNY) as the NYPD cracks down on protest camps at both Columbia University and CCNY on April 30, in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Since April 18, more than 1,000 people have been arrested on college and university campuses from coast to coast as schools prepare for spring commencement ceremonies, according to a CNN review of university and law enforcement statements.
Protesters have been arrested on more than 25 campuses across at least 21 states. However, many other schools have experienced protests without arrests.
CNN is monitoring campus protests and will continue to update this map with any new arrests.
2:27 a.m. ET, May 1, 2024
Video shows Arizona State University police officer removing protester’s hijab during arrest
From CNN’s Cindy Von Quednow
This screengrab shows a campus police officer removing a hijab off a protester’s head at Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona. Mass Liberation AZ
Video taken over the weekend at Arizona State University shows a campus police officer removing a hijab from a protester’s head during her arrest.
The blurred video, obtained by Mass Liberation AZ and provided to CNN by attorney Zayed Al-Sayyed, who represents the women, shows several ASU Police Department officers surrounding a woman whose hands are held behind her back as one of the officers removes her hijab.
People nearby can be heard yelling, “You’re violating her privacy,” and “Give it back.”
The officers then pull the woman’s sweatshirt hood over her head and a bystander yells, “So she can wear a hood but not her hijab?” At one point one of the officers blocks the woman from the view of those taking the video, as a person yells, “let her go!”
A lawyer representing her and three other women who said it also happened to them is demanding accountability.
Al-Sayyed, who said the arrests took place early Saturday, did not identify the women but indicated that three of them are students at the university and all four are Phoenix-area residents. They are facing criminal trespass charges.
Upon being taken into custody, Al-Sayyed said, the women explained the significance of a hijab and “begged” to keep their hijabs, but he said they were told that their hijabs had to be removed for safety reasons.
“They never expected that an officer … who’s sworn to protect and serve is going to violate their most basic protected right under the United States Constitution, which is the right to practice their religion. So they're hurt,” Al-Sayyed said.
After being detained and bused to jail, the women were not given their hijabs back, Al-Sayyed said.
Around 15 hours later, when he was finally given access to his clients, Al-Sayyed said he was able to bring them new hijabs.
The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ), condemned the university police for the recorded incident and others like it and called for a full investigation.
“This act represents a blatant infringement upon the religious liberties of peaceful protesters. It is profoundly distressing for the affected women, and ASU Police must conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” Azza Abuseif, executive director of CAIR-AZ, said in an email to CNN.
In a statement to CNN, the university said, “This matter is under review.” CNN has reached out to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for comment.
3:41 a.m. ET, May 1, 2024
Over 100 protesters arrested across 2 New York college campuses, law enforcement official says
From CNN’s Mark Morales
NYPD officers detain students at Columbia University in New York City on April 30. Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images
Over 100 protesters were arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and City College of New York, according to a law enforcement official.
Most of the arrests were made at Columbia, including about two dozen protesters who police say tried to prevent officers from entering the campus, the official said.
Tactical teams at Columbia first set up a perimeter around the campus to hold back protesters and prevent further arrests, according to the official. Officers then entered the campus through multiple entry points.
3:48 a.m. ET, May 1, 2024
NYPD used flash bangs to breach Columbia building where doors were barricaded
From CNN’s Matthew Friedman and Miguel Marquez
Police use a special vehicle to enter Hamilton Hall which protesters occupied in New York City, on April 30. David Dee Delgado/Reuters
NYPD officers used flash-bang grenades Tuesday night to breach Columbia's Hamilton Hall, which protesters had barricaded themselves inside, the police department told CNN.
The building's doors had been barricaded with chairs, tables and vending machines, and windows had been covered with newspaper, the NYPD said.
