May 1, 2024 - US campus protests

The large law enforcement presence on UCLA's campus is comprised of several agencies to perform specific tasks to clear the encampment, according to a source familiar with law enforcement plans:

Law enforcement on site will be equipped with protective gear, including gas masks, according to the source. The UCLA hospital will also be on standby to receive anyone who may be injured, the source said.

State police were deployed to the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College due to “illegal activity and at the request of local law enforcement,” the New Hampshire Department of Safety told CNN.

The University of New Hampshire told CNN that students supporting Palestinians had peacefully protested on campus at least seven times over the past six months.

The university said it will protect free speech on campus but "will not allow it to be co-opted by a small group of protesters, including outside agitators.”

CNN has reached out to Dartmouth College for comment. 

Multiple people were arrested during an ongoing pro-Palestinian protest at Dartmouth College on Wednesday night, according to CNN affiliate WMUR.

Multiple people have been arrested during an ongoing pro-Palestinian protest at Dartmouth College on Wednesday night, according to CNN affiliate WMUR.

Video from WMUR shows police pulling protesters one-by-one from the crowd gathered on the Dartmouth Green and detaining them with zip ties.

Protesters can be heard chanting “Free Palestine” while holding banners and flags.

The crowd appears to be a mix of students and members of the community, WMUR says.

Approximately 16 people were arrested Wednesday night after a pro-Palestine protest at the University at Buffalo's North Campus, including students and "other individuals not affiliated with the University at Buffalo," the school said in a release.

Those people were arrested after being "advised of, and failing to comply, with an order to disperse for a violation of UB’s Picketing and Assembling Policy that prohibits encampments and overnight assemblies," the release reads.

"A few individuals" attempted to resist arrest, and two officers were assaulted, the release reads.

In an earlier release, the university said its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine originally organized a march at the North Campus on Wednesday. 

Around 50 people, including students and others not affiliated with the university, continued to protest into Wednesday evening, the university said.

Many left the area after warnings from university police to disperse at dusk, but others were arrested outside of Hochstetter Hall, the university said.

The university said it recognizes and respects the right to protest but emphasized that overnight assemblies and indoor and outdoor encampments are prohibited.

Five tents were previously placed on campus but were removed by protesters after they were advised by university staff and police.

Law enforcement has declared an unlawful assembly for a pro-Palestinian encampment at the university's quad, a source familiar with the situation tells CNN. 

Declaring a gathering unlawful is a step police typically take before ordering individuals to disperse or face arrest.

CNN witnessed more than 100 law enforcement officers from various agencies entering the campus Wednesday, including a stream of officers wearing riot helmets and carrying zip ties.

Aerial video from CNN affiliate KABC shows dozens of police vehicles and a law enforcement mobile command post gathered at the FBI's Los Angeles field office parking lot, which is approximately one mile from the UCLA encampment. 

Hundreds of people had gathered outside the encampment Wednesday evening, most appearing to be seated on the ground across from the entrance to the camp, the aerial footage shows. Inside the encampment, more than 80 tents lined the grass as people busily wove through the area.

By around 8:30 p.m., a growing line of LAPD officers had formed between the encampment and the outside group of protesters, according to a CNN crew on the scene.

Several dozen people dressed in black with white masks repeatedly attacked UCLA's protest encampment Tuesday night with crude weapons, including poles and incendiaries, according to video provided to CNN by William Gude, 49, who routinely films and shares videos of police conduct in Los Angeles. 

Gude told CNN he arrived at the encampment area before the chaos ensued at around 9:15 p.m. local time Tuesday night and said he filmed hours worth of footage, showing what led up to the incident and what followed. 

In a video shared with CNN, which captured what Gude says was the first 24 minutes of the incident, individuals dressed in black can be seen making several attempts to remove the barricades in front of the pro-Palestinian encampment and breach the encampment as the protesters inside used mace to defend themselves. 

At times, individuals from each camp engage in furtive one-on-one skirmishes in the area between the two groups. Gude described what he saw as "a sustained attack for three and a half, almost four hours, by one side against the other."

He described the attackers as pro-Israel based on the remarks they used in the video. Additionally, the video shows at least two people with Israeli flags and another wearing a hoodie that reads: "Free our hostages."

Multiple videos posted online show the individuals dressed in black attacking the pro-Palestinian protesters with sticks. In other videos, the pro-Palestinian protesters can be seen getting kicked and punched. Some videos posted on social media show officers at the scene but not engaging with the crowd.  

Gude told CNN the UCLA Police Department arrived at the scene about an hour into the attack. Later, the California Highway Patrol arrived, followed by the Los Angeles Police Department. None of the departments moved in to de-escalate the situation, Gude said, until much later. 

Gude approximates he first saw officers arrive at around 11:15 p.m. and he says none engaged with the crowd until 2:30 a.m.

The LAPD referred CNN to UCLA Police. CNN has reached out to all three departments and the university regarding the incident. 

Classes at the University of California, Los Angeles, will be remote on Thursday and Friday, the university said on its public safety website.

Classes at UCLA were canceled Wednesday after a violent confrontation broke out between protesters and counterprotesters at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on campus.

No arrests were made at the University of California, Los Angeles campus early Wednesday after a violent confrontation erupted between protesters and counter-protesters at the site of a pro-Palestine encampment, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release posted on X. 

LAPD said it did not use force on protesters and no officers were injured.

LAPD and several other state and local agencies responded to the campus after UCLA requested help amid “reports of violent clashes between protesters,” the release added. 

The two groups were eventually separated, LAPD said, though they did not indicate what time they responded and when the violence stopped.

CNN has reached out to the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, UCLA Police and the university for more information.

Fordham University said a handful of protests on its campus have been peaceful until today, when at least 15 people were arrested after dozens of protesters set up an encampment inside the university's Lowenstein building, according to a statement from the school. 

Some of the 15 people arrested Wednesday are believed to be Fordham students, the statement read.

This decision to call in police was for the "physical protection of the campus," The statement read.