Police clear pro-Palestinian protesters from Columbia University while clashes break out at UCLA

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Police clear pro-Palestinian protesters from Columbia University while clashes break out at UCLA
apnews.com

NEW YORK (AP) — The pro-Palestinian demonstration that paralyzed Columbia University ended in dramatic fashion, with police carrying riot shields bursting into a building that protesters took over the previous night and making dozens of arrests. On the other side of the country, clashes broke out early Wednesday between dueling groups at the University of California, Los Angeles.

New York City officers entered Columbia’s campus late Tuesday after the university requested help, according to a statement released by a spokesperson. A tent encampment on the school’s grounds was cleared, along with Hamilton Hall where a stream of officers used a ladder to climb through a second-floor window.

Meanwhile, violence broke out at UCLA overnight between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters. Police wearing face shields formed a line but did not immediately intervene.

The clashes took place just outside a tent encampment, where pro-Palestinian protesters erected barricades and plywood for protection — and counter-protesters tried to pull them down.

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For anyone interested, one of the last live streams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD-ohHo8crg Most of the others went to sleep after the masked israeli agitators left when the cops started moving in.

The camp people did a pretty good job at deescalating but when you have 30+ random masked people trying to tear down your camp, throwing stuff at you and beating up old people trying to deescalate then its tough to stay calm.

Pretty telling tho that police was present for 4+ hours and did nothing while people were getting assaulted. Eventually they will probably attempt to clear the camp under the pretense of violent acts happening, when the only violent people were the ones outside the camp.

The line "violence broke out" struck me as odd. The mention of the violence taking place because Pro Israel protesters were in the Pro Palestine side tearing down barricades came much later in the article. This drastically changes the dynamic of the violence. "Violence breaks out" when a person wearing a keffiyeh defends themselves.

"Violence" is not an actor, violence does not "break out". It's a phrase used to hide the actors who instigated the violence, either due to a lack of knowledge or due to willful obfuscation. We have videos of what happened, so we know which it is.