After weeks of campus activism, pro-Palestinian protesters entered and barricaded themselves inside a student services building at California State University, Los Angeles, on Wednesday, video footage from CNN affiliate KABC showed.
University spokesman Eric Frost Hollins told the Los Angeles Times that a group of 50 to 100 protesters had blocked exits on the first floor and created a perimeter seal around the building. The university asked employees on upper floors to shelter in place, Hollins said.
A small number of staff remained behind on Wednesday night “to deal with the situation,” according to the Times.
“The protesters don’t want people inside the building. This is not a hostage situation,” a protester told KABC.
Demonstrators told KABC the demonstrations were fuelled by frustration with university officials who sent messages about the encampment that “repeated what they said 20 days ago.”
KABC video showed protesters moving furniture around the building’s first floor, with messages such as “It’s time to escalate!” and “CSU Stop Funding Genocide” spray-painted on windows and plywood.
UCLA Chancellor Verenecia Johnson Eanes’ office is located in the Student Services Building, according to the university’s website, and KABC reports she is among the staff still in the building.
The university has requested assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department, according to CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS, who told the station that officers are developing plans and have increased their presence on campus, but no tactical information has been released.
The protests at California State University, Los Angeles came as several US universities continue to be disrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrations condemning Israel’s war response against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Protests have hit schools across the country late this spring but are still continuing in some places, including UCLA, about 20 miles west of California State University, Los Angeles, where 27 people were arrested Monday for setting up multiple pro-Palestinian encampments that police say are illegal.
Additionally, at least six UCLA police officers and other safety officers were injured in clashes with protesters, including one with a head injury, UCLA Vice Chancellor for Campus Safety Rick Braziel said in a news release on Tuesday.
Of those arrested at UCLA, 18 were students, two were faculty members, one was a former student and the rest were people with no affiliation to the university, police said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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