65 Arrested At UC San Diego in Latest Gaza Protest Mass Arrest

A total of 65 Pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at UC San Diego on Monday when the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) cleared an encampment on campus following the encampment being declared an unlawful assembly and protesters refusing to leave.

Since late April, several pro-Palestine, pro-Hamas protests and encampments have turned into mass arrest events in California. The first such event occurred on April 24th when protesters refused to leave an encampment at the USC campus in Los Angeles. Law enforcement subsequently moved in, razing the encampment and arresting 93 protestors, of whom over 50 were students. On April 30th, another 35 students were arrested at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata when, after a week of occupying 2 buildings on campus, law enforcement officers retook both in a major sweep. Another encampment bust on May 2nd, this time at UCLA, destroyed one of the largest protester encampments in the country, leading to 210 arrests.

Several events also nearly resulted in arrests, including a clash between protests groups at UCLA on May 1st and most recently on Sunday when the LAPD once again cleared an encampment at USC. However, protesters learned from the first time, fleeing the area before law enforcement arrived. Until Monday morning, protester arrests in California had only occurred at those 3 campuses.

But focus quickly shifted to San Diego on Monday. For several days beforehand, a growing pro-Palestine encampment had been building on the UC San Diego campus. University officials, worried about the safety of students and disruptions to the final weeks of classes and commencement ceremonies, finally opted for the encampment to be removed early on Monday. At 6 A.M., UC San Diego and law enforcement officials declared that the encampment was an unlawful assembly and that protesters had to leave. While many protesters did, several stayed behind.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the CHP went in shortly afterwards, and by 7:30 A.M., had taken over the encampment. In total, 65 protesters were arrested and sent off for booking. Later in the day they were released by the police, as 40 of them were students.

Late in the afternoon, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla released a statement, going over the events of the day and explaining why the University took the action needed to retake the encampment.

“Early this morning, law enforcement authorities successfully removed an illegal encampment on the UC San Diego campus after five days of attempts to communicate with participants and multiple, clear requests to disperse,” said Khosla. “UC San Diego encourages and allows peaceful protests, but this encampment violated campus policy and the law and grew to pose an unacceptable risk to the safety of the campus community.”

“Sixty-four individuals were arrested after refusing the dispersal requests. Of those, 40 were identified as students and are facing interim suspension for violation of the student code of conduct. Twenty-four are either unidentified at this time or are unaffiliated with the university. Two minor injuries were reported. Before any arrests were made this morning, encampment participants were repeatedly provided with opportunities and warnings to disperse. While many people voluntarily left the encampment, regrettably others chose to stay and be arrested. The campsite was dismantled within one hour and without any serious incidents.

“The decision to clear the campsite was made due to consideration of the significant dangers to people inside and outside of the encampment. Upon entering the campsite, wooden stakes, propane tanks, metal and plywood shields, aerosol spray cans and a sword were discovered, all of which posed unacceptable hazards for health, fire safety and security. Additionally, participants denied access to fire marshal and health inspectors, established check points and limited free access to areas of campus. These are all intolerable actions on the UC San Diego campus, which exists for the benefit of all university affiliates.

“After the encampment was removed, protesters interfered with police operations, including physically obstructing San Diego County Sheriff officers and buses, blocking movement and banging on windows in an attempt to hinder the arrest process. This resulted in one additional arrest.”

65 arrested at UC San Diego

A later statement by the University confirmed that all students who had been arrested are currently under “immediate interim suspension,” with further punishments, including a longer-term suspension and expulsion, being possible as the University looks more into the incident.

UC San Diego will resume normal operations at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. For campus updates and alerts, visit: https://t.co/1P8mDiDRPU pic.twitter.com/pjDBgk3DLB

— UC San Diego (@UCSanDiego) May 7, 2024

Student Megan Mitchell, who witnessed the tail end of the arrests while going for a morning run on Monday, spoke to the Globe: “You could hear the commotion from a long way back. I was sort of on the side of the protesters, but some of the things I overheard them saying when running past was pretty awful. I’m more conflicted now, just like most students here. Many want a cease-fire, and many, like me, think this is a freedom of speech issue. But seeing it first hand and all the damage they did to campus with their tents and things there, I understand why they were arrested. If anything, this gives us all one less distraction.”

Researcher Sandy Crane, who studies college protest movements, added on Tuesday, “Universities are getting more and more worried about these protests and encampments. Protesters are disrupting commencements, are destroying parts of campus, and are disrupting students when they need quiet and time to study. So all university officials now have a shorter fuse before they do this sort of thing now. UC San Diego on Monday is a perfect example of that.”

More updates on campus protesters will likely come out soon as the final weeks of the semester wrap up.