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-93 students at the University of Southern California (USC)
-Protests against the war in Gaza spread across U.S. campuses
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Police have arrested 93 students at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles on trespassing charges, as protests against the war in Gaza spread across US campuses.
Police police wearing riot gear evicted a pro-Palestinian encampment in the center of campus, preventing demonstrators from gathering.
The arrests at USC occurred hours after skirmishes between protestors and police at the University of Texas.
Dozens more people were also arrested there.
A growing number of students at US universities have walked out of class or attempted to set up encampments in protest of Israel’s military war in Gaza.
The latest arrests at USC occurred as students gathered in Alumni Park, where the university’s main-stage graduation ceremony is slated to take place next month.
LA police reported that during a several-hour operation, they cleared an encampment and attempted to remove demonstrators.
Students were given a 10-minute warning from police helicopters to disperse. Those who refused were arrested under trespassing charges.
The protest was reported to have been largely peaceful at first, but then turned tense with the continued police presence.
As police tried to detain one woman, protesters threw water bottles at them and chanted, “Let her go!”
Protesters gathered around the officers, drowning out their warnings with “free Palestine” chants. Students, some wearing kaffiyehs were holding “liberated zone” signs, banging drums.