UCLA adds extra security to separate competing protest groups

WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Protests over the Israel-Hamas war continued on UCLA's campus Monday, but with greater security in place to prevent the kinds of clashes that were seen over the weekend.

The sides supporting Palestinian and Israeli causes are being kept far apart from each other and the school brought in extra security to help maintain the peace.

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.

Demonstrators supporting the Palestinian cause have camped out in tents on campus for nearly a week.

On the pro-Israel side, a large screen was set up showing videos of Hamas attacks.

"Actually we're showing some documentaries that are out and available in the public," one demonstrator said. "They obviously bring up a lot of emotions and it's uncomfortable at times."

The school sent out a brief statement to the community:

"UCLA has a long history of peaceful protest and we are heartbroken to report that yesterday, some physical altercations broke out among demonstrators on Royce Quad.

We have since instituted additional security measures and increased the numbers of our safety team members on site, including our uniformed Student Affairs Mitigators (SAMs), Public Safety Aides (PSAs), CSC and campus security.

As an institution of higher education, we stand firmly for the idea that even when we disagree, we must still engage respectfully and recognize one another's humanity. We are dismayed that yesterday certain individuals instead chose to jeopardize the physical safety of the community."