Los Angeles police make no arrests clearing USC pro-Palestinian encampment

Los Angeles police made no arrests on Sunday while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Southern California, following arrests and turmoil at universities across the country over Israel's war on Gaza.

Other universities with graduation ceremonies on Sunday braced for more protests after dozens were arrested the previous day.

After USC requested assistance, police entered the encampment about 5 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) and worked with campus police to remove tents as students peacefully left the area, police said.

Campus protests have emerged as a new political flashpoint during a hotly contested and deeply divisive US election year. Police have arrested over 2,000 protesters at dozens of colleges around the country.

Mitch Landrieu, the national co-chair for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign, said on Sunday that Senator Bernie Sanders's comment comparing the college protests to those during the Vietnam War was an "over-exaggeration."

"This is a very different circumstance," Landrieu said on CNN. "However, that is not to say that this is not a very serious matter."

Many schools, including Columbia University in New York City, have called police to quell the protests.

Student activists at Columbia University have escalated their protests against the university's financial connections to Israel by seizing Hamilton Hall and renaming it "Hind’s Hall".

The move honours Hind Rajab, the six-year-old Palestinian girl that Israeli forces killed after… pic.twitter.com/tX2W1fA8Qa

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) April 30, 2024

Students and other protesters have called for universities to divest their financial ties to Israel and push for a ceasefire. In April, Los Angeles police arrested 93 people at USC after they cleared an earlier encampment.

Separately, there have been at least four bomb threats at New York area synagogues over the weekend, police said, but none have proven credible.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on X late Saturday: "We will not tolerate individuals sowing fear & antisemitism. Those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions."

More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's assault that has flattened the Palestinian territory, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

(Reuters)