Police enter another US university as Palestinian protesters occupy building

Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied a building at the University of California, Irvine, on Wednesday, prompting university officials to call multiple law enforcement agencies, cancel classes and advise people on campus to shelter in place, a spokesman for the university.

No arrests or injuries were reported as multiple Orange County law enforcement agencies, including Irvine police, responded to a request for assistance from the university, an Irvine police spokesperson said.

The rally in Irvine, about 40 miles south of Los Angeles, is the latest in a series of campus protests across the United States over the war in Gaza, in which activists have called for a ceasefire and the protection of civilian lives. , while demanding that universities disassociate themselves from Israeli interests.

About 200 to 300 protesters surrounded a UC Irvine classroom at a time when classes were not in session, university spokesman Tom Vasich said. Campus police responded and called for help from nearby agencies, with Irvine police and Orange County sheriff’s deputies among those who arrived on campus, Vasich said.

Police in riot gear formed a barricade and an officer warned the crowd over a loudspeaker that they had formed an illegal gathering and were at risk of arrest if they remained in place, the Orange County Register reported.

Four adjacent research buildings with potentially hundreds of people inside were locked down and people inside were told to shelter in place, Vasich said. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day, he said.

The classroom was near the site of a student camp similar to those at other universities that have led to mass arrests and clashes with police in other parts of the country.

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