At least 12 people were arrested at UC Berkeley after police ordered protesters to disperse

Police officers searched a University of California, Berkeley complex occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters on Thursday evening and led several people away in handcuffs. A university spokesman said at least 12 people had been arrested, but the number was expected to rise.

The new camp emerged Wednesday at the Anna Head complex after protesters dismantled another larger camp earlier this week following a tentative agreement with university officials.

Some members of the splinter group stayed overnight in the complex, a fire-damaged building near People’s Park, while others camped in tents outside the complex, hanging Palestinian flags and spray-painting the area.

Around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, dozens of officers from the California Highway Patrol and local police and sheriff’s departments began surrounding the area, using megaphones to demand that protesters disperse within 30 minutes or face arrest.

As of 7:30 p.m., at least a dozen people had been arrested, said Dan Mogulof, a university spokesman. He said it was unclear how many of the protesters were UC Berkeley students.

Two days before the arrests, pro-Palestinian protesters dismantled a much larger encampment on campus at Sproul Plaza after reaching a tentative agreement with schools Chancellor Carol Christ.

She said the university would begin discussions about divesting certain businesses and that it planned to publicly support “efforts to secure an immediate and lasting ceasefire” by the end of the month. However, she said divestment of investments from companies doing business with or in Israel was not within her jurisdiction.