Multiple arrests made as Gaza camp at UC Irvine cleared by police

Multiple arrests were made after police were called into the University of California at Irvine to clear the Gaza camp after students and activists had taken over a campus building. The camp was cleared on Wednesday.

Students barricaded themselves in the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall and ran out of the building to try to pitch tents at around 2:30 p.m, KTLA reports. "The gathering was declared an unlawful assembly and officers from several law enforcement agencies created a skirmish line near demonstrators, who were positioned both inside and outside of the encampment’s wood palette barriers," per KTLA.

Local law enforcement ordered activists to immediately leave the University of California, Irvine after hundreds of anti-Israel protesters took over buildings on campus and erected barricades on Wednesday. A UC Irvine spokesperson told Fox News that the chaos began after hundreds of radical activists entered the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall and began to barricade the building at 2:30 pm.

The university called local law enforcement. The Irvine Police Department and Orange County Sheriff's Department immediately responded. Anti-Israel activists were instructed to "leave the area."

UC Irvine said in a statement, "Anyone currently in buildings in the vicinity of the protest are advised to exit buildings & leave the area at this time. Please disregard all previous orders to shelter in place. If able, please leave immediately & continue to avoid the protest area until further notice."

The radical activists have been occupying the campus since April 29. Students told the outlet that many of the activists aren’t UC Irvine students and that children have even been spotted with the group. Footage showed activists building a barricade with wooden pallets, tents, and random garbage while clashing with police in riot gear. UC Irvine told students to "shelter in place" as law enforcement arrived, adding later that classes had been canceled for the remainder of the day and be fully remote on Thursday.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement on X, "The right to peaceful assembly is a constitutional right, and we encourage protesters to exercise their right to peaceful assembly; however, criminal activity which transcends peaceful assembly, including violence and vandalism of any kind, will not be tolerated.” He added, "Any evidence of criminal activity, including failure to obey lawful orders to disperse, will be investigated and thoroughly reviewed to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed."

Shortly before midnight, UC Irvine posted on X, "Campus update: Police activity has concluded. UC Irvine will still have remote instruction on Thursday, May 16. Unless specifically noted, all employees should work remotely as well. Resident students may still access dining facilities." According to CNN, over a dozen activists were arrested.

UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman said in a statement after the police activity concluded, "For the last two weeks, I have consistently communicated that the encampment violated our policies but that the actions did not rise to the level requiring police intervention. My approach was consistent with the guidelines of UC's Robinson/Edley Report, which urges the UC to exhaust all possible alternatives before resorting to police intervention."
 

"I was prepared to allow a peaceful encampment to exist on the campus without resorting to police intervention, even though the encampment violated our policies and the existence of the encampment was a matter of great distress to other members of our community. I communicated that if there were violations of our rules we would address them through the normal administrative policies of the university and not through police action."

"And so after weeks when the encampers assured our community that they were committed to maintaining a peaceful and nondisruptive encampment, it was terrible to see that they would dramatically alter the situation in a way that was a direct assault on the rights of other students and the university mission."

"The latest campus-specific and systemwide demands made by our encampers and their counterparts across the University of California attempted to dictate that anyone who disagreed with them must conform to their opinions. They asserted the right to oversee many elements of university operations involving the administration, faculty, students, and staff, bypassing customary campus protocols and ignoring the function of the Academic Senate."

"Most importantly, their assault on the academic freedom rights of our faculty and the free speech rights of faculty and students was appalling. One can only imagine the response if people on the other side of these issues established an encampment to force me to censor all anti-Zionist academic and student programming."

"But my concern now is not the unreasonableness of their demands. It is their decision to transform a manageable situation that did not have to involve police into a situation that required a different response. I never wanted that. I devoted all of my energies to prevent this from happening."

"I’m sorry this campus I love so much had to experience this terrible and avoidable situation. I remain steadfast in my commitment to protecting the rights of all members of our community to express whatever viewpoints they believe are essential for others to hear and engage. And I remain steadfast in my commitment to defend our faculty and students from efforts to prevent them from having the same rights of academic freedom and free speech as everyone else on this campus."