Police face off with pro-Palestinian demonstrators inside an encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
LOS ANGELES, CA — A pro-Palestinian demonstration on the campus of UCLA turned violent after hundreds of protestors defied police orders to dismantle. Police fired flash-bangs, which produce a bright light an piercing loud noise, to stun and break up crowds. At one point, officers were seen binding the hands of protestors with zip ties. Some demonstrators even formed human chains to prevent officers from removing barricades and breaking up the protest.
According to AP, a crowd of more than 1,000 had gathered on the campus throughout the demonstration, both inside a barricaded tent encampment and outside it. This comes as tension around the Israel-Hamas war builds, with tent encampments popping up on the campuses of universities around the country in support of Gaza. These police crackdowns remind many of the actions that played out decades ago against the larger protest movement protesting the Vietnam War.
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See photos of all the chaos unfolding at UCLA overnight, below.
Police advance on demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)Police advance on pro-Palestinian demonstrators in an encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Police enter an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Pro-Palestinian demonstrators embrace while charging devices at an encampment on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)Pro-Palestinian demonstrators use makeshift shields as police advance on them on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)Police advance on demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)Police advance on demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)Pro-Palestinian demonstrators watch police activity behind a makeshift barricade on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Pro-Palestinian demonstrators build makeshift shields in preparation for the possible clearing of an encampment by authorities on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)Police advance on demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)Pro-Palestinian demonstrators stand behind a barrier on the UCLA campus late Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)A demonstrator is escorted out of a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Police break up an pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Police break up a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are detained on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Police stand outside a building after raiding a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)Demonstrators stand behind a barricade as police advance on them on the UCLA campus, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Associated Press contributed to this post.
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