The police crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests at UC San Diego has drawn criticism

After police in riot gear cleared a camp of pro-Palestinian protesters at UC San Diego and arrested about 65 people in an early-morning raid on May 6, the crackdown drew swift condemnation from some faculty members.

The first major confrontation between police and protesters on the La Jolla campus in decades followed five days of demonstrations that avoided clashes that have rocked other universities across the country during protests against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Following the arrests at UCSD and the evacuation of about 50 tents occupied by protesters, about 300 protesters gathered in downtown San Diego to demonstrate in front of the county jail, demanding the release of those arrested and chanting “Let them go.”

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside the county jail in downtown San Diego on May 6, demanding the release of about 65 people arrested at UC San Diego in La Jolla.

(KC Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“I’m a faculty member, but today they are My Teachers,” said Gary Fields, a UCSD professor who teaches a course on dissent and protest, as he pointed to students outside the prison on the afternoon of May 6.

He said the school administration “deployed the police against a completely peaceful and legal demonstration.”

The force consisted of about 200 campus police officers, California Highway Patrol officers and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department deputies.

Many students were frustrated by the university’s actions, including the decision to close campus for a day and offer classes online.

“Of course it is unfortunate to see riot teams on campus,” said Ivan Ramirez, a member of the Associated Students Council, who called the camp “divisive” among students. “This doesn’t happen every day. But everything comes to a point where action needs to be taken — not on this scale, but I think (administrators) have been watching what’s happening at other sites.”

UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said in a statement later in the day that the university encouraged peaceful protests, “but this encampment violated campus policies and the law and posed an unacceptable risk to the safety of the campus community.”

Khosla cited “significant dangers” at the camp, which was set up on May 1 just off Library Walk near the Geisel Library. He said police found poles, propane tanks, metal and plywood shields, aerosol spray cans and a sword and that protesters there denied access to fire and health inspectors, set up checkpoints and restricted movement.

He said protesters were repeatedly asked to disperse before any arrests were made.

It was unclear whether both sides had made efforts to negotiate an end to the camp before the police invasion.

California Highway Patrol officers walk near UC San Diego’s Geisel Library after pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested and their camp was broken up.

(KC Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

David FitzGerald, a sociology professor at UCSD, questioned the university’s handling of the protesters, calling a statement Khosla made on May 5 “a cynical lie” designed to “perpetuate a violent suppression of peaceful expression.” “armed police officers” to justify it.

In that statement, Khosla said that “over time, the threat and potential for violent clashes increases. “The presence of a significant number of non-members in the camp reinforces these concerns.”

On May 5, the camp attracted about 200 counter-protesters during a tense but peaceful confrontation.

FitzGerald, who has taught at UCSD since 2007, said the university encourages students to create change.

“What is currently happening in Gaza with US support is clearly one of the world’s most pressing problems,” he said. “Our students are calling attention to this, but we respond by sending the police to attack them and drag some of them to prison, even though they are really doing what we asked them to do as educators.”

According to the university, at least 40 of the people arrested were students facing possible suspension, while 24 others were either unidentified or not directly affiliated with the university.

Several dozen faculty members signed an open letter to the chancellor and the University of California Board of Regents “begging” them not to pursue criminal charges, suspend the students or attach grades to their academic performance.

“We ask them to be lenient,” said Adam Aron, a psychology professor at UCSD. “We don’t want to see their record suspended or prosecuted for speaking up with a strong and courageous voice.”

According to Jessica Williams, the department’s graduate student coordinator, about 40 faculty, staff and students in the Department of Ethnic Studies had a department call on May 6 to discuss holding a vote of no confidence in Khosla.

The crackdown began shortly before 6 a.m. when police gathered near the camp and told protesters there they had ten minutes to disperse or face arrest. Authorities began arresting remaining protesters as others nearby chanted “Free, free Palestine.”

Clashes broke out between officers and protesters throughout the morning after authorities quickly dismantled the tent village. It took about an hour to tear it down and move everything away.

Debris covers the grounds of a pro-Palestinian camp at UC San Diego as tents occupied by protesters have been removed.

(KC Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

After police cleared the encampment, a growing crowd gathered along Library Walk. Dozens of demonstrators got into scuffles with police, who were trying to transport arrested people from campus in two buses, and tried to stop the buses from leaving.

This led to a major clash with police. Smaller skirmishes took place around the Price Center, where initially arrested protesters were held nearby.

According to the university, two people were slightly injured. Protesters and their supporters claimed police beat protesters with batons and used pepper spray against them.

Almost all those taken into custody were arrested on suspicion of unlawful assembly – a misdemeanor – and had to be brought to trial and immediately released. According to the university, one person was arrested on suspicion of obstructing police officers.

Protest organizers did not allow reporters to speak to those arrested, saying they wanted to protect them from harassment.

Some protesters made peace signs as police officers broke up a pro-Palestinian camp at UC San Diego.

(KC Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The campus raid occurred the morning UCSD’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter was scheduled to begin its annual Justice in Palestine Week event.

The aim of the protests at UCSD and many other college campuses across the country was to pressure schools to divest from Israel and companies that activists view as hostile to Palestinians, and to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis that is looming spread in Gaza as a result of the war.

UCSDivest, a coalition that organized the camp at UCSD, has called on the university to end institutional partnerships with weapons manufacturers, including General Atomics and Lockheed Martin. It also highlighted the research funding that the Israeli Ministry of Defense provides to the UC system and the university. ◆