One person was arrested after UCLA campus police ordered those attending an “unauthorized demonstration” to disperse Monday evening.
The pro-Palestine demonstration featured about 40 people, UCLA police said, and was located at Dickson Court North, an area not “designated for public expression,” according to school policy.
The demonstration was organized by a student organization called Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine. It involved a makeshift sukkah, a temporary structure associated with the Jewish weeklong holiday of Sukkot—which is being observed through Wednesday.
The student organization said it intended to welcome observers of all faiths who support their movement to visit the sukkah, which it had hoped to maintain for seven days.
“All who believe in justice and liberation for Palestine are welcome at this interfaith observation of Sukkot,” the organization wrote in an Instagram post.
But those plans proved to be short-lived, as UCPD stated that the structure, as well as the use of “amplified sound,” were in violation of the school’s controversial “Time, Place and Manner” policy, which sets rules for when and where students are allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights.
Banners that read “UCPD is Fascist. Abolition Now,” and “Divest from Genocide” were among the messages displayed by demonstrators, according to the school’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin.
The student-run publication described a scene of dozens of campus police and security officers, some dressed in riot gear, surrounding the sukkah structure, as well as counter-protestors shouting at the the pro-Palestine demonstration.
Video shared by the Daily Bruin showed one person being detained by several officers, although it’s unclear if that person is the same one who police said was arrested for failing to disperse.
By 10 p.m., UCPD said the area had been cleared of all activity. The sukkah was taken down by police and UCLA custodial staff about an hour earlier, according to UCLA Radio, the university’s student-operated radio station.
The demonstration at UCLA also coincided with an appearance by controversial right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro. Shapiro, who is Jewish, is among the most popular and outspoken pro-Israel political commentators.
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