Police arrest 80 at Israel-Hamas war protest at UC Santa Cruz

Police in riot gear surrounded arm-in-arm protesters Friday at the University of California, Santa Cruz, to remove an encampment and barricades where pro-Palestinian demonstrations have blocked the main entrance to the campus this week. Dozens were arrested, the university said.

Campus, local and state police swarmed the protesters, and video from local news stations showed officers telling people to leave, then taking away signs and part of a barricade. There appeared to be some pushing and shoving between police and protesters. Officers carried zip ties and appeared to detain a few people.

“For weeks, encampment participants were given repeated, clear direction to remove the encampment and cease blocking access to numerous campus resources and to the campus itself,” Scott Hernandez-Jason, a spokesperson for the university, said in a statement Friday.

“They were notified that their actions were unlawful and unsafe. And this morning they were also given multiple warnings by law enforcement to leave the area and disperse to avoid arrest. Unfortunately, many refused to follow this directive and many individuals are being arrested,” Hernandez-Jason said.

Approximately 80 demonstrators were arrested, said university spokesperson Abby Butler. Chancellor Cynthia Larive said in a letter to the community Friday that some demonstrators remained at the entrance.

She said that the road blockades, “with fortified and chained barricades made of pallets and other materials, and other unlawful actions, disrupted campus operations and threatened safety, including delaying access of emergency vehicles.”

It wasn’t known if anyone was injured. The university was holding classes remotely Friday.

Graduate student workers at UC Santa Cruz continued a strike that began last week over the university system’s treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters. The strike will expand to three more campuses next week, their union said Friday.

The strikes began May 20 at UC Santa Cruz, and then extended to UCLA and UC Davis.

Members at UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego will walk out on June 3 and at UC Irvine on June 5, UAW Local 4811 said. Union members include graduate teaching assistants, researchers and other academic employees. The UC president’s office said the union was violating its contract’s no-strike clause and disrupting students’ critical year-end activities.