Sirens, bullhorn used overnight as dueling demonstrations continue on UCLA campus
WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Protests over the Israel-Hamas war continued on UCLA's campus Tuesday and security was boosted to prevent the kinds of clashes that were seen over the weekend.
Early Tuesday morning, blaring sirens and a bullhorn could be heard coming from the protesting area. It appeared protestors might've been using them as tactics to keep counter-protestors awake.
According to the Daily Bruin, UCLA's student newspaper, dozens of counter-protesters tried to breach the pro-Palestinian encampment. There were some arguments but no violence.
Later in the morning, a protester was detained after a Palestinian flag was installed atop construction scaffolding outside Powell Library adjacent to a demonstration encampment.
University officials also announced that Royce Hall near the encampment will remain closed until Friday, and students were told to check with their instructors about new locations for classes normally held in that building. Powell Library, meanwhile, will remain closed until Monday.
This comes after some UCLA professors walked out Monday to show their support for pro-Palestinian demonstrators, marching to Royce Hall in the middle of the encampment on campus.
Over the weekend, minor skirmishes - mostly pushing and shoving - broke out between the groups after the barriers were breached. Some injuries were reported.
The campus has brought in hundreds of extra security officers to keep the two sides apart. Extra barricades and other measures were also put in place.
Protests at SoCal universities
Meanwhile, students at UC Irvine and Riverside also joined the growing number of campus protests across the country.
At USC, the school is investigating a report of a swastika spray-painted near campus.
Demonstrators there continue to occupy Alumni Park and the school remains closed to the public.
Protestors are demanding the university divest from Israel. USC President Carol Folt met with some of them for a second time in two days in hopes of making progress.
"Unfortunately, they seemed more interested in having me issue a political statement in support of their viewpoint as opposed to coming up with practical solutions to resolve the situation," Folt said in a statement Tuesday.
For now, the university's main commencement ceremony remains canceled.
Protests at Columbia University
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Shortly before officers entered the campus, the New York Police Department received a notice from Columbia authorizing officers to take action, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
