LAPD officers in riot gear clear pro-Palestine encampment on USC campus

Los Angeles police officers in riot gear arrived at the University of Southern California early Sunday to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment after issuing a dispersal warning.

Live images from the campus of USC showed officers creating a perimeter around the site of the encampment, with no visible protesters on-site. Tents and the debris were left behind.

Overnight, the protesters had still been camped out. Hours later, the area had been cleared. No arrests have been reported. 

The LAPD moved into the site around 4 a.m., giving a warning to have protesters clear the area willingly. That followed an announcement by USC on the social media platform X, where the university said, “If you are in the center of campus, please leave. People who don’t leave could be arrested.”

When officers arrived, protesters were chanting and some people were beating drums.

“Today, we saw heavy police activity on campus. Earlier today, we had an encampment that was set up here with around at least 100 members,” said Zain Khan, a USC student journalist, who added that LAPD officers came on campus and gave a dispersal warning at which most of the protesters left peacefully.

“DPS and the LAPD escorted them out and essentially cleared the area,” Zain added. There were no reports of any conflicts, or violence that erupted.

In a statement, Joel Curran, Senior Vice President of Communications with USC, said: 

“Earlier today, the University of Southern California Department of Public Safety (DPS) successfully removed the illegal encampment rebuilt on the university’s campus. It was necessary to request the Los Angeles Police Department to respond to provide security as this was carried out peacefully. No arrests have been reported. We want to thank LAPD for assisting DPS in clearing the encampment and restoring normalcy for students and community as quickly and safely as possible. We will share more information with our community later today.”

Earlier in the week, USC’s president, Carol Folt, said the school had started disciplinary investigations against individuals who “violated our policies and the law.” She has not revealed how many individuals were under investigation. The disciplinary investigations followed the April 24, arrests of 93 people on-campus after a confrontation between protesters in the encampment and police.

USC has been the subject of student protests over the war in Gaza as well as the administration’s decision to cancel a graduation speech by the valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, a Muslim student who has publicly supported Palestinians. The university made that decision in mid-April, saying it had safety concerns after receiving threats. Some Jewish groups had criticized the student’s selection as speaker.

Administrators later canceled the entire main stage event planned for May 10, when 65,000 people were expected to gather to celebrate graduates. Other commencement activities, including graduation ceremonies for individual schools and colleges, are still scheduled from Thursday through Sunday. Access to the private campus has largely been restricted for people not affiliated with the university since late April.

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