UCPD responds to counter-protesters’ midnight attempt to breach encampment
UCPD officers are pictured walking between Kaplan Hall and Powell Library on Tuesday morning. UCPD arrived on the scene after around 60 counter-protesters attempted to breach the encampment entrance. (Dylan Winward/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Around 60 counter-protesters attempted to breach the entrance of the encampment in Dickson Plaza around midnight Tuesday morning, drawing the presence of six UCPD officers in riot gear.
The confrontation began at 11:30 p.m. on Monday between Powell Library and Kaplan Hall after counter-protesters used a megaphone to shout and play music in front of the encampment’s barricade in Dickson Plaza earlier in the night.
A fight between members of both sides broke out around 11:40 p.m., leading the six UCPD officers to separate counter-protesters and participants of the encampment. Protesters inside the encampment brought wooden planks to the Powell scaffolding to block the entrance. CSC security officers then used their bikes to create a barrier between UCPD, counter-protesters and those inside the encampment.
After UCPD left the scene at around 12:15 a.m. – walking past the Royce Hall corridor and toward Rolfe Hall – pro-Palestine protesters and counter-protesters eventually retreated inside the encampment and to Dickson Plaza outside of the encampment, respectively.
As UCPD began to make its way to the scene, counter-protesters chanted, “USA, USA, USA.”
Earlier in the night, UCPD officers were dispatched to Janss Steps and the surrounding lawn area after two individuals attempted to climb through the bushes and into the encampment. One ran away from the scene and was promptly chased by officers and CSC security officers, while the other was eventually released. Neither were arrested.
Tonight’s events follow the establishment of a pro-Palestine encampment Thursday morning in Dickson Plaza, which was organized by the UC Divest Coalition and Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA. The encampment is one of many protests across the country in support of Palestine since October.
[Related: UCLA community organizes encampment in response to national call for escalation]
UCPD, UCLA, SJP and UC Divest at UCLA did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
Contributing reports by Felicia Keller, Matthew Royer and Dylan Winward, Daily Bruin staff.
