Police swiftly clear pro-Palestinian encampment outside LA city hall
Officers take down roughly 20 tents set up Monday night, no arrests made; for second straight night, protesters clash with police at University of Pittsburgh
An attempt by pro-Palestinian protesters to establish an encampment in front of Los Angeles City Hall was short-lived.
Protesters set up about 20 tents on sidewalks outside the downtown building Monday afternoon and the police department posted on social media site X that it was monitoring a “non-permitted demonstration.”
Officers moved in early Tuesday and cleared away the encampment without making any arrests, KABC-TV reported. The area was quiet during the morning rush hour.
In Pennsylvania, pro-Palestinian protesters left the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning early Tuesday after several demonstrators clashed with police. Some protesters wrestled officers over control of metal barriers and taunted them with derisive chants, and officers were seen throwing some protesters to the ground.
The conflict marked the second straight night of demonstrations. Most protesters had left the area by 2 a.m. Tuesday after Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and his representatives met with encampment members. No arrests were made during Monday night’s confrontations.
Maria Montano, a spokesperson for Gainey, said city officials met with the demonstrators “to find a path towards a peaceful resolution so that everyone could go home safely.”
“I want to be clear: while demonstrators reiterated some of their demands as part of the discussion, the primary focus of this meeting was not about their demands, but about how we could find a way to resolve the conflict on Pitt’s campus peacefully. Our decision to meet with them was in no way an endorsement of those demands,” she said in a statement.
The Pitt campus was open and operating normally Tuesday, said school spokesperson Jared Stonesifer.
More than 3,000 people had been arrested on US campuses before summer break began last month, including protesters at the University of California’s Los Angeles, San Diego, and Irvine campuses.
Protests began after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7, when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern communities, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage to Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.