The chancellor of California State University, Los Angeles, ordered the disbanding of an anti-Israel encampment on Thursday after protesters blocked and vandalized campus buildings.
The Student Services Building, which houses the office of UCLA Chancellor Verenecia Johnson Eanes, was surrounded by yellow tape after Wednesday night’s incident and was considered a crime scene by authorities, the newspaper reported. Los Angeles Times.
“The trust we had [Gaza Solidarity] “The camp’s rules for practicing nonviolence were violated,” Eanes said in a statement. “We cannot and will not shield from accountability those directly identified as participants in last night’s unlawful actions.”
Protesters who broke away from the encampment used umbrellas, ropes, golf carts and chairs to block most of the building’s entrances, smashed windows and splattered some walls with messages in red paint.
The reporter recalled being surrounded by anti-Israel thugs, who “punched” him, “shoved him” and “robbed him of his notebook.”
“If you don’t like graffiti, look away like a genocide” was spray painted on Greenlee Plaza at California State University, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. The Student Services Building behind it was occupied Wednesday afternoon, with people trapped inside. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
About 60 employees were told to wait there for two hours until security secured the building’s exits late Wednesday night. California State University spokesman Eric Frost Hollins told The Times that the protesters had left the building by early Thursday morning.
Eanes said in a statement that protesters had stolen property, destroyed offices and left “significant damage,” noting that the damage to the building “impacts services for students, including enrollment, records, accessible technology, basic needs, engagement for new students and their families, Dreamer resources and educational opportunity programs.”
Eanes was one of 12 employees who voluntarily remained in the building while the incident was occurring.
Anti-Israel protesters fire flares at New York City music festival memorial on October 7 for victims, chanting “Long Live the Intifada”
Barricaded entrances to the Student Services building at California State University, Los Angeles, in Los Angeles, California, Thursday, June 13, 2024. The building was occupied Wednesday afternoon, trapping people inside. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“To my campus community, I believe we will recover from this situation, but I am committed to doing everything in my power to make sure this never happens again,” Eanes said. “The encampment has crossed a line, and those who are there must leave.”
But as of Thursday afternoon, the encampment was still active.
“We will not back down!!” Students for Palestine Justice at California State University, Los Angeles, posted on social media earlier that morning. They said no one was taken hostage during the incident and offered to escort anyone who wanted to leave. The group’s Instagram page is no longer available.
Click here to get the FOX News app
Following the occupation, university officials moved all classes online and canceled on-campus events indefinitely.
California State University, Louisiana did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
