UC San Diego Protesters Call For Class Walkout

SAN DIEGO, CA — Student protesters at UC San Diego are calling for a walkout from classes at 12:05 p.m. Wednesday, followed by a protest on Sungod Lawn, according to a social media post by Students for Justice in Palestine.

Some in the campus community condemned the chancellor and administration after California Highway Patrol officers tore down an encampment made by pro-Palestinian protesters and arrested 65 people on suspicion of unlawful assembly on Monday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Of those arrested, 40 were UCSD students, who were placed on interim suspension, the newspaper said.

The San Diego Faculty Association asked that the suspensions be lifted and any potential pursuit of criminal charges be halted.

About 200 of UCSD's 3,800 faculty members signed a statement saying they "were shocked and outraged by UCSD's decision to send riot police to arrest protesters on May 6. The militarized response has only chilled free speech, escalated tensions, reduced safety on campus, and destroyed the trust needed for negotiations and shared governance."

More than 450 graduate students signed a statement saying that "the decision to characterize the protest as non-peaceful and to deploy law enforcement to forcefully clear the encampment is an egregious violation of the principles of justice, equity, and freedom of expression that our institution claims to uphold."

Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said the encampment violated campus policy and the law and grew to pose an unacceptable risk to the safety of the campus community.

— City News Service