USC Closes Campus As Police Skirmish With Pro-Palestinian Protesters

LOS ANGELES, CA — Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters began an "occupation" of USC's Alumni Park Wednesday, prompting the university to close the campus to unauthorized visitors .

The protesters issued a list of demands including university divestment from organizations that "profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine."

Organizers of the USC occupation -- identifying themselves as the USC Divest from Death Coalition -- issued a statement saying the action is "in solidarity with the people of Palestine as they resist genocide and continue in their struggle for liberation."

"The occupation is also in resistance to attempts by USC and other universities to suppress the student movement for Palestine on its campuses, in resistance to the silencing of students that criticize the state of Israel, in resistance to the university administrators and boards of trustees who profit off the genocide of Palestinians," organizers said.

It was unclear how many people participating in the action were actually USC students or affiliated with the university. USC Provost Andrew Guzman issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the university had closed campus gates and taken other actions to "restrict growth of the protest and keep the rest of the campus calm."

"Until further notice, (the university is) restricting unauthorized visitors from entering campus," Guzman wrote. "Individuals with proper USC identification or verifiable business purpose will be able to access campus, attend classes and participate in activities."

The occupation action added USC to a growing list of college campuses across the nation that have seen encampments and protests over the Israel-Hamas war, most notably Columbia University. USC's Alumni Park is scheduled to host the university's already headline-making commencement ceremony on May 10.

Several dozen people began the encampment early Wednesday morning. Campus Department of Public Safety officers visited the encampment and instructed participants not to hang signs, flags or other materials from trees and posts in the park, and warned them not to use megaphones.

Protesters at times broke into chants of "Free Palestine."

Around midday, campus DPS officers again moved into the park in an effort to confiscate prohibited items, such as microphones and tents. Some shouting matches between protesters and officers ensued, and some students picked up their tents and carried them around the park to prevent them from being confiscated.

As the standoff intensified and officers tried to detain a protester, hundreds of people amassed around a DPS patrol vehicle, chanting and shoving forward. The group ultimately moved back into Alumni Park and began marching and shouting slogans, while some DPS officers formed a small skirmish line on the outskirts of the park. The person who had been detained was released.

Authorities set up skirmish lines along the University of Southern California Alumni Park amid boisterous pro-Palestinian protests blocking access to the area.

Police removed several protesters' tents, and then got into a tug-of-war with protesters over tents. Reports from the scene indicate one protester was briefly detained, but has since been released.

Los Angeles Police Department officers were called to the area to aid the university in controlling the crowd.

Similar protests have roiled campuses around the nation over the last week, shutting down the Cal Poly Humboldt campus Tuesday after protestors occupied an administrative building. Massive crowds of protestors prompted Columbia University to cancel in-person classes. Protests have been consistent at UC Berkeley since the war began in October.

Students protesting Israel’s war with Hamas are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling its monthslong conflict. Dozens have been arrested on charges of trespassing or disorderly conduct. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

At all of the demonstrations, protestors have called for an end of the war sometimes with slogans such as "Stop the Genocide" and "Free Palestine."

In many of the protests, they have chanted the more controversial “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” For some pro-Palestinian protesters, it is a battle cry for equality and an end to the war and the occupation of the West Bank. Others consider it to be a call for an end to the Israeli state. Its link to Hamas, the network behind the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, engenders a visceral reaction for many.

According to the Associated Press, Hamas, has claimed the slogan "in its drive to claim land spanning Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

“Palestine is ours from the river to the sea and from the south to the north,” Khaled Mashaal, the group’s former leader, said in a 2012 speech in Gaza celebrating the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, according to the Associated Press. “There will be no concession on any inch of the land.”

The upwelling of demonstrations has left universities struggling to balance campus safety with free speech rights. Many long tolerated the protests, but are now doling out more heavy-handed discipline, citing safety concerns.

This month, USC made the controversial decision to cancel the valedictorian's speech at this year's graduation ceremony amid uproar over the student's online posts in support of Palestine. Critics of valedictorian Asna Tabassum's activism allege her posts crossed the line from criticism of Israel's conduct in the war to anti-Semitism by endorsing calls for the abolition of Israel.

In letters sent to USC administrators, critics accused her of posting on a social media account a link to a website that "takes a swinging bat at over 10% of the USC student body and mudslings by calling Zionists 'racist-settlers."'

"Ms. Tabassum unabashedly and openly endorses the link's calls for 'the complete abolishment of the state of israel (sic),"' according to a letter circulated for critics to submit to administrators. "As if the unqualified command for abolition of the State of Israel was unclear in any way, Ms. Tabassum's link reinforces racism with another link, urging readers to 'reject the hegemonic efforts to demand that Palestinians accept that Israel has a right to exist as a . . . Jewish state."'

USC provost Andrew Guzman framed the decision to scrub Tabassum's speech as a safety issue.

"While this is disappointing, tradition must give way to safety," Provost Andrew Guzman wrote in a message to the university community. "This decision is not only necessary to maintain the safety of our campus and students, but is consistent with the fundamental legal obligation — including the expectations of federal regulators — that universities act to protect students and keep our campus community safe.

"It applies the same values and criteria that we have used in the past to guide our actions. In no way does it diminish the remarkable academic achievements of any student considered or selected for valedictorian. To be clear: this decision has nothing to do with freedom of speech. There is no free- speech entitlement to speak at a commencement. The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period."

Immediately following Guzman's announcement, the Council on American- Islamic Relations-Los Angeles issued a statement demanding that the decision be reversed and that Tabassum be permitted to speak. Tabassum released a statement through CAIR-LA, saying "anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices have subjected me to a campaign of racist hatred because of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all."

"This campaign to prevent me from addressing my peers at commencement has evidently accomplished its goal," she said. "I am both shocked by this decision and profoundly disappointed that the university is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice.

"I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own university — my home for four years — has abandoned me."

CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush called the USC decision "cowardly" and the reasoning "disingenuous."

The decision to cancel Tabassum 's speech sparked immediate backlash. Within days, the university announced the graduation ceremony will no longer include any outside speakers or honorees, canceling a commencement speech by Filmmaker Jon M. Chu.

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.