Newport Beach’s mayor says Irvine publicly condemned police actions at the University of California, Irvine, while Newport Beach police were on the scene to assist an illegal encampment in the city. I wasn’t happy about it.
When anti-Israel demonstrators occupied a campus building, responding police were forced out. Multiple Orange County law enforcement agencies responded to assist in the liquidation effort. Dozens of protesters were arrested during the sweep.
“The campers have pledged to our community that they are committed to maintaining a peaceful and undisturbed encampment.”
Irvine Mayor Farah Khan’s official X account expressed her regret for the actions of the police, not the building occupiers.
“It is unfortunate that peaceful free speech protests are always met with violence. Occupying spaces on campus or in buildings is not a threat to anyone. We must do everything in our power to avoid creating a scenario like this: These are your students. No weapons,” the account posted in a warning to the UC Irvine protests.
Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill rebuked Khan’s comments, saying there were officers at the scene and her “careless words” accusing them of violence.
“If that’s what you meant, your message is under the mayor’s authority. If not, please clarify immediately,” he concluded.
Khan did not respond to O’Neill’s post.
A UCI professor made headlines after yelling abusive language at reporters after he was arrested during a police sweep.
“You can’t have a genocidal foreign policy in a democracy,” the professor said. “These young people will pay the price for these terrible decisions. The police officers here today, that’s thousands of student scholarships! Thousands of students going to school and going to school. and could have gotten housing! ”
Chancellor Howard Gilman has made it clear that he is prepared to leave an illegal encampment on campus unless protesters escalate their tactics. He said he had no choice but to intervene with police after the building was forcibly occupied.
“And weeks after the encampers assured our community that they were committed to maintaining a peaceful and undisturbed encampment, we saw their direct attack on other students and their rights. It was scary to see things change dramatically in the university’s mission,” Gilman said.
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