What to Know
- Normal campus operations were scheduled to resume Monday at UCLA after weeks of protest over the war in Gaza.
- Officers responded to Moore Hall and took several people in custody Monday morning at a campus parking structure.
- The police activity comes after a campus protest encampment was cleared out last week.
Dozens of people were detained and law enforcement officers responded to at least two buildings at UCLA Monday morning when normal operations were set to resume after weeks of protest at an encampment on the Westwood campus.
Campus police officers assembled early Monday outside Moore Hall, where metal barriers were blocking the entrance. Video appeared to show people inside building, possibly part of an organized protest sit-in over the war in Gaza.
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The university sent out an alert later Monday morning indicating that classes at Moore Hall will be conducted remotely due to "ongoing disruptions." Later Monday, the university said all classes Monday will be remote with limited campus operations.
"Law enforcement is stationed around campus to help promote safety," the university said in its alert. "Student Affairs has staff on campus to support our students."
A sit-in was reported later Monday morning at UCLA's Dodd Hall, where protesters, including some with loudspeakers, were chanting "Free Palestine" outside and inside the building.
At a campus parking structure, officers detained 43 people for delaying a police investigation. More details about why they were detained were not immediately available.
Those taken into custody were transported in a sheriff's department inmate bus for booking.
The campus has been the site of protests over the war in Gaza. Last week, officers cleared on an encampment that protesters established on the campus.
UCLA was set to resume regular campus operations Monday after classes were moved online Thursday and Friday due to the unrest.
Police moved in and cleared the weeklong pro-Palestinian encampment early Thursday, arresting 209 people. Most of those arrested were booked on suspicion of unlawful assembly, then released from custody with instructions to appear in court at a later date.
No significant injuries to protesters or the hundreds of police officers who took part in the raid were reported.
Disputes between protesters at the encampment peaked overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday, when the pro-Palestinian encampment was attacked by counter-protesters supporting Israel who set of fireworks and allegedly deployed pepper spray or bear repellent. The violence prompted a cancellation of all classed at UCLA on Wednesday.
Over the weekend, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block announced a newly created Office of Campus Safety to administer policing and emergency management. On May 23, Block is expected to testify before Congress about UCLA's response to antisemitism on the campus and actions to protect Jewish students.
The Hamas militant group said Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal to halt the seven-month war with Israel. It issued a statement Monday saying its supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had delivered the news in a phone call with Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence minister.
The two Middle Eastern nations have been mediating months of talks between Israel and Hamas. There was no immediate comment from Israel. The announcement came hours after Israel ordered Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah ahead of an Israeli military operation. Israel says Rafah is Hamas’ last stronghold.
On Monday, the Israeli army ordered tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza's southern city of Rafah to start evacuating. The warning is a signal that a ground invasion could be imminent months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
