Officers remove pro-Palestinian encampment at UC Santa Barbara

Dozens of officers removed an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters from the campus of UC Santa Barbara early Sunday morning, according to videos and social media posts by the protest group.

University officials did not respond to calls on Sunday afternoon. Officials had sent a message to the group, which calls itself the UCSB Liberated Zone, that the encampment violated university policies and that the protesters were illegally trespassing.

According to the group’s posts on Instagram, dozens of officers arrived on campus shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday morning. The police “gave four dispersal notices to campers and then began moving into the encampment,” the protest group said.

Later video shows workers throwing tents into a large garbage truck.

The group said six protesters had been arrested, but that could not be immediately confirmed with officers Sunday afternoon.

In April, hundreds of protesters occupied the university’s student resources building for a daylong series of workshops, art projects and other actions to express solidarity with Palestinians, call for a cease-fire and demand an end to Israel-related investments. Demonstrators set up encampments in May.

Sunday’s police operation was the latest following weeks of protests by pro-Palestinian demonstrators at universities throughout the country.