Los Angeles, CA – On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 12, in an act of escalation for Gaza, pro-Palestinian student protesters occupied the student services building at the California State University – Los Angeles (CSULA) campus.

The students demanded their university fully divest and cut ties from Israel.

The militant students occupied the first floor of the student services building and used furniture and other tables around campus as barricades. They did this in preparation for the police who were staging nearby in the parking lot of the public safety university police station.

Writing all over the glass windows of the student services building read “Free Palestine,” “ACAB” and “Gaza <3.”

The students wore helmets and had makeshift shields to protect themselves from the police. Police have systematically beaten protesters at universities all across the United States when raiding the encampments and building occupations.

As of 1 a.m. on Thursday, June 13, the students had left the student services building. The barricades made of tables, facility services vehicles (golf carts) and other heavy objects were still left around the building.

While the building is no longer occupied, the original encampment near the middle of campus is still going strong and has grown to nearly the size of a football field with about eight-foot walls of wood pallets and other materials surrounding it. Inside, it is estimated there are over 100 students and community members with tents set up.

The students escalated because Berennecea Eanes, the president of CSULA refused to speak to them. After 18 days of the new encampment, Eanes finally reached out to students. However, she issued a campus-wide memo which clearly demonstrated her allegiance. “I cannot and would not protect anyone who is directly identified as having participated in last night’s illegal activities from being held accountable. The Encampment has crossed a line. Those in the Encampment must leave,” she wrote. “A trust we had in the Encampment to practice non-violence has been violated.”

The university also canceled all in-person classes and asked students to evacuate. Entrances to the campus were blocked by university parking enforcement. LAPD, Long Beach State and CSULA campus police were present, while multiple helicopters were also flying over the campus. Despite this, the peaceful protesters were unfazed and continue demonstrating their undying support for Palestine.

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