Police surround pro-Palestinian encampment on Californian university

Police surrounded a pro-Palestinian encampment early on Sunday at the University of Southern California, days before graduation events are set to begin on the Los Angeles campus.

The university said campus safety officers assisted by the Los Angeles Police Department were clearing the area.

“If you are in the centre of campus, please leave. People who don’t leave could be arrested,” USC said on the social media platform X.

Demonstrators were loudly chanting “Free Palestine” inside the encampment.

Protesters in the encampment were given 15 minutes to leave the area before facing arrest, according to Annenberg Media, a student-led campus publication.

The encampment had restarted after the Los Angeles Police Department first arrested 93 people on April 24.

The atmosphere on the private university campus had largely remained calm since, while attention turned to arrests at the University of California, Los Angeles.

At the University of Virginia, 25 people were arrested on Saturday for trespassing after police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters who refused to remove tents from campus, and demonstrators at the University of Michigan chanted anti-war messages and waved flags during graduation ceremonies.

USC, a private university, has been the subject of student protests over the war in Gaza as well as the administration’s decision to cancel a graduation speech by the valedictorian, a Muslim student who had expressed support for Palestinians.

The university made that decision in mid-April, saying they had safety concerns after receiving threats. Some Jewish groups had criticised the student’s selection as speaker.

Administrators later cancelled the entire main-stage event planned for May 10, when 65,000 people were expected to gather to celebrate graduates.

Video posted online on Saturday evening showed some demonstrators engaging in calm songs and chants in preparation for expected police activity.