UCLA
(Photo : ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)
Protesters sleep beneath a wall covered with placards near an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian students and activists on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2024.

The Los Angeles Police Department swept through the University of California Los Angeles' pro-Palestine Encampment early Thursday morning, more than 100 students and faculty members and clearing the protest site of activists.

While the protestors have been cleared from UCLA's Dickson Plaza, the remnants of their activism remain, in the form of graffiti slogans and posters, on the university's Royce Hall.

"Free Gaza," read one message, written once in black spray paint over a door and twice in red on adjacent pillars. "F--- Israel" and "F--- the IDF" were also spray painted onto the university building. Students involved with pro-Palestinian activism also deliberately blocked the doors with tents, cardboard and garbage bins, to barricade police out of the area, a source connected to UCLA told HNGN.

A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer detains a protestor while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
(Photo : Mario Tama/Getty Images) A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer detains a protestor while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
The police raid on the encampment followed an intense day on the university's picturesque California campus. UCLA classes were canceled Wednesday and police helicopters lingered above the university, after 200 counter-protestors stormed the encampment overnight, ripping away wooden pallets and metal barricades. Individuals could also be seen throwing fireworks towards the encampment, in footage shared to social media by the UCLA student newspaper. 

A Pro-Palestinian protestor barricades a door in an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared 'unlawful' by the university and many protestors have been detained.
(Photo : Eric Thayer/Getty Images) A Pro-Palestinian protestor barricades a door in an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared 'unlawful' by the university and many protestors have been detained.
Los Angeles police began dismantling plywood barriers around an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA early Thursday morning, following announcements that activists would be arrested if they did not disperse. Officers began tearing apart the makeshift barrier of plywood, wooden pallets, metal fences and trash dumpsters. Other officers began tearing down tents and canopies, as protesters held up umbrellas as shields. 

California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers detain protestors near encampment graffiti while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
(Photo : Mario Tama/Getty Images) California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers detain protestors near encampment graffiti while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Defacing property with graffiti is illegal under California state law. Individuals convicted of vandalism can face fines, jail time or both, depending on the extent of the damage. In Arizona, three pro-Israel activists were recently charged with multiple felonies after they allegedly engaged in vandalism by keying pro-Palestinian activists' cars.

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