Washington-. At least 25 people were arrested by police during a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), media outlets in the United States reported today.
The young people marched through the university’s south campus while reading the names of the thousands of Palestinians murdered in Gaza by the Israeli army.
The UCLA newspaper, Daily Bruin, shared images of a confrontation last night around 11:00 p.m. between campus and city police, as well as California Highway Patrol officers, and protesters.
“We just want our people to be released,” a protest participant said in a video, apparently referring to those detained. “There is a genocide (in Gaza) and you are arresting and mistreating students!” said another.
More than a hundred pro-Palestinian protesters set up camps in Dickson Plaza, Kerckhoff Patio and Shapiro Courtyard, the publication reported.
The protests follow two previous camps organized by the UC Divest Coalition and Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA to demand that the university sever its ties with companies associated with the Zionist regime’s military.
Michael Chwe, a political science professor, said the university police’s statement to disperse violated students’ free speech rights.
“Peaceful protest is a very basic constitutional human right,” he warned. “The use of violence on a university campus is totally contrary to all our values,” the teacher emphasized.
The police dismantled the camp declared illegal at UCLA and according to a statement cited by NBC News and CNN, around 150 protesters remained there early Tuesday morning.
Tension on the main university campuses in the United States has increased in recent days, weeks after the police intervened to break up protests throughout the country, from New York to California, resulting in approximately two thousand arrests.
According to reports, the arrests were made on accusations related to intentionally disrupting university operations, a crime that would carry a possible six-month jail sentence; In addition, those involved were suspended for 14 days.
