This post was updated Feb. 19 at 10:34 p.m.

One person was detained after multiple pro-Palestine groups protested at UCLA on Tuesday.

Around 150 people gathered in Dickson Plaza around 2 p.m. to call on the UC to divest from companies associated with the Israeli military and for UCLA to reinstate its chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine. Protesters violated UCLA’s Time, Place and Manner rules when protesting in Dickson Plaza, according to a 3:20 p.m. post from UCPD on the social media platform X. 

Chancellor Julio Frenk announced the interim suspension of SJP and Graduate SJP after the organizations protested in front of UC Regent Jay Sures’ Brentwood home Feb. 5, leaving red handprints on his garage door and caution tape in his front yard. In his Wednesday campuswide email announcing the groups’ suspensions, Frenk said protesters harassed Sures, prevented one of his family members from exiting their home and pounded drums while chanting, “Jonathan Sures, you will pay, until you see your final day.”

[Related: Chancellor Julio Frenk announces suspension of two pro-Palestine student groups]

UC Divest Coalition at UCLA, Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, National Students for Justice in Palestine, People’s City Council and the Southern California Regional Formation of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle announced the protest in a joint Instagram post Monday. 

In a joint Monday post to their Instagram pages, SJP and Graduate SJP said, “SJP may be suspended, but you can rally in our name.”

SJP also posted a letter on Instagram condemning the decision to suspend SJP and Graduate SJP before the protest Tuesday. The post had over 154 cosigners, including UCLA campus organizations and pro-Palestine organizations from colleges and universities across the country.

“We are all SJP and we will not be intimidated into silence,” the post said. “We will all continue to fight for divestment and for the liberation of Palestine by any means necessary.” 

Around 150 protesters carrying Palestinian flags congregated outside Royce Hall around 2 p.m. Protesters played music and held signs reading, “The more you try to silence us, the louder we will be,” and “Jonathan Sures’s $11,215,123 house paid for by genocide.” 

Protesters also chanted, “Free, free Palestine,” and, “Resistance is glorious, we will be victorious.”

The Israeli military launched a campaign in the Gaza Strip following Palestinian political party and militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which killed around 1,200 people, according to the Associated Press. The campaign has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. 

A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas went into effect Jan. 19. 

Grace Hong, a professor of gender studies and member of FJP, said she attended the protest to show support for SJP after their interim suspension, adding that she believes the university administration failed to protect academic freedom and freedom of speech. Michael Chwe, a professor of political science and member of FJP, also said he disagreed with the decision because he believes the university, rather than students, acted in a violent way.

“If you look at who actually experienced violence, it’s overwhelming our own students, and that was the fault of our university administration,” Chwe said. “For them to be claiming that our students are violent is completely backward.”

[Related: Pro-Israel counter-protesters attempt to storm encampment, sparking violence]

Counter-protesters also arrived at Dickson Plaza around 2 p.m. and attempted to heckle and disrupt speeches by pro-Palestine protesters by chanting, “Am Yisrael Chai,” and shouting, “Murderers.”

Both groups began to march toward Dickson Court North and arrived at Murphy Hall, where offices of the UCLA administration are located, around 2:40 p.m. Protesters remained at Murphy Hall until around 3 p.m., playing drums and chanting, “Israel is a terrorist state.”

Undergraduate Students Association Council President Adam Tfayli said in an interview outside Murphy Hall that he came to observe the demonstrations, adding that he believes university administration bypassed shared governance protocols when suspending SJP and Graduate SJP. 

“For this one, it felt like student input was bypassed,” Tfayli said. “I know they said they’re still going to go through the process.” 

Laura, a student who requested to remain partially anonymous due to safety concerns, said she attended the protest to support people in Gaza and stand up to the UCLA administration for suspending SJP and Graduate SJP.

“There is a slippery slope if you invoke the name of violence onto nonviolent acts,” she said. “The administration is very clearly trying to silence us.”

The protesters then marched toward the Inverted Fountain shortly after 3 p.m. 

They then entered the Mathematical Sciences building from Portola Plaza, chanting, “From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever.” The fire alarm went off in the building around 3:15 p.m., prompting students unaffiliated with the protest to leave the building.

The fire alarm also sounded in the Engineering IV building after the first protesters walked into the building. Protesters continued to move from the Mathematical Sciences building and Boelter Hall to the Engineering IV building and exited all buildings around 3:19 p.m.

Around 100 protesters then marched toward the UCLA Police Department building, where around 15 UCPD officers in riot gear and carrying zip tie handcuffs and batons formed a line in front of the protesters at 3:35 p.m. A UCPD car also blocked the intersection of Westwood Plaza and Strathmore Place. 

A speaker at Westwood Plaza said despite the suspension of SJP and Graduate SJP at UCLA, the protesters organized to show that they will not abandon their support for Palestine. 

“We will not be silenced, we will not be stopped and we will not step down,” they said. “To Julio Frenk, to Janet Reilly, to Jay Sures and the rest of the Board of Regents – we are not afraid of you.”

Around 3:35 p.m., protesters marched back toward the main UCLA campus, briefly pausing at the crosswalk intersection of Westwood Plaza and Strathmore Place. 

Protesters unfurled banners at the northeast corner of Bruin Plaza and gathered to give speeches, including reading aloud accounts from people in Palestine. Counter-protesters tried to join speakers on platforms and continued to heckle and interrupt while they spoke.

Two protesters climbed to the second floor of the steps leading up to the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center around 3:45 p.m. to hang a banner reading, “UC invests 32,000,000,000 in genocide.” Two counter-protesters climbed after them and removed the banner, placing it in a trash can outside the building.

A speaker also invited the protesters to support university workers at the UC – including members from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents service, patient care and skilled crafts workers. The union has called for its workers to strike Feb. 26 and 27 across all 10 UC campuses. 

“These are the workers whose pensions are being invested in weapons manufacturers,” they said. 

[Related: AFSCME Local 3299 announces strike against UC for Feb. 26, 27]

Protesters left Bruin Plaza around 4:10 p.m. Around 4:30 p.m., one person was detained outside the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center.

UCLA Media Relations did not comment on the arrest but said in an earlier statement that it was monitoring the protest.

“Any student organization under Interim suspension is not permitted to sponsor or participate as an official student group in campus events,” it said in the statement. “We are actively monitoring today’s event with the safety and well-being of our community, while upholding UCLA’s Time, Place, and Manner (TPM) policies.”

Contributing reports from Leydi Cris Cobo Cordon, Alexandra Crosnoe, Andrew Diaz, Ruby Galbraith, Zimo Li, Shiv Patel and Dylan Winward, Daily Bruin staff.