A weeks-long pro-Palestine protest at UC Irvine demanding the university divest from Israel over the Hamas war took a tense turn Wednesday when protesters blocked the entrance to the physical sciences building in an apparent occupation of the facility.
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The protesters surrounded the physical sciences lecture hall about 2:30 p.m., prompting campus police to request aid from Orange County sheriff's deputies and Irvine police, among other neighboring agencies, said Tom Vasich, a university spokesman.
Students and educators were also warned to avoid the area, Vasich said.
The protest, which includes an encampment much like what has done on campuses across the country, has been largely peaceful as the students have been negotiating with university officials.
The situation has intensified over the past week, particularly after some protesting students received suspension notices from the university, including some who were involved in negotiations with UCI administrators.
In a statement posted on social media Wednesday, the UCI Divest protest group said it is "reclaiming the university for Palestine and for the people."
"Exactly one week ago to the day, UC Irvine issued temporary suspensions to man students in the encampment, including the majority of the student negotiation team," according to the group. "Students barred from returning to their own campus residence halls, cannot come to campus at the peak of midterms and finals, and are already facing the emotional toll of seeing the university militarize itself before it even accepts ending the genocide and killings of the students' family members and friends."
Numerous tents were erected around the physical sciences building, and banners were hung from the building's balcony listing the groups demands for divestment. Some small skirmishes were visible on the outskirts of the encampment perimeter as at least one counter-protester tried to confront participants.
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A large number of law enforcement descended on the campus, and officers and deputies in riot gear stood by in formation outside the encampment. As of late afternoon, law enforcement had not made any advance on the protesters, and there were no reports of any injuries or arrests.
UCI Divest added in its statement that university officials have called for a resumption of negotiations, "but how can we negotiate if our negotiators are barred from physical and virtual presence at UCI?"
In a statement issued Monday, UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman said the university "cannot selectively waive our rules against encampments or other relevant policies for this situation and not other situations."
"Moreover, far from engaging in the mere expression of anti-war sentiments, encampment protesters have focused most of their demands on actions that would require the university to violate the academic freedom rights of faculty, the free speech rights of faculty and fellow students, and the civil rights of many of our Jewish students," Gillman wrote. "While there is a fine tradition of anti-war protests, it is important that one not confuse that legacy with efforts to intimidate and silence students with whom they disagree and or to diminish the rights of our Jewish students at their university."
Responding the protest , Orange County District Attorney says on X that ``the right to peaceful assembly is a constitutional right and we encourage protesters to exercise their right to peaceful assembly; however, criminal activity which transcends peaceful assembly, including violence and vandalism of any kind, will not be tolerated. Any evidence of criminal activity, including failure to obey lawful orders to disperse, will be investigated and thoroughly reviewed to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed.''
Police have declared the gathering at the campus an unlawful assembly and
ordered protesters to disperse.
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