Hundreds of pro-Palestinian students and their supporters protested Wednesday at USC’s Alumni Park, joining that seeks to have schools support a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Police ultimately arrested 93 people on suspicion of trespassing.
Earlier in the afternoon, as the chaotic and boisterous demonstration grew, school spokesperson Lauren Bartlett said in an email that administrators have “given academic deans the discretion to continue to teach in person or move classes online for the rest of the week.”
The protesters, some who were acting independently and some representing different organizations, offered up — including university divestment from organizations that “profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine.” They also demanded a complete academic boycott of Israel, including an end to study-abroad programs in the area, cutting ties with Israeli universities; and the protection of free speech of students voicing support for Palestinian people.
They also sought to have the university issue a public statement “calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza, denouncing the ongoing genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people and call on government officials to do so too.”
The protest at one point became chaotic when campus security tried to confiscate items — such as tents, microphones and signs — from protesters outside of the Doheny Library.
Around 7:30 p.m., roughly 50 protesters who refused to leave Alumni Park square had been detained by police — albeit without any major confrontation. Students and others stood by, calling for police to release those who had been detained.
“It’s clear whose interests this school has at heart,” graduate student Morgan Dommu said. “We have been here all day mostly without incident and only when police are brought in do things go south.”
Dommu also said she wasn’t surprised about the school’s decision to allow professors to teach remotely on Thursday.
“They want to act like we’re gearing up for a fight but that’s not what we want. No one here was trying to make anyone feel unsafe,” she said. “We want to learn, just not at the expense of someone else’s life.”
In Wednesday, USC Provost Andrew Guzman said that many of the activists “did not appear to be affiliated” with the school, and were “repeatedly” asked by security to remove tents and other prohibited items and “relocate to a compliant location.”
“In each case, protesters refused,” Guzman wrote. “Their actions have escalated to the point of confrontation and have threatened the safety of our officers and campus community.”
Organizers of the USC occupation — identifying themselves as the “USC Divest from Death Coalition” — issued a statement saying their action is “in solidarity with the people of Palestine as they resist genocide and continue in their struggle for liberation.”
“The occupation is also in resistance to attempts by USC and other universities to suppress the student movement for Palestine on its campuses, in resistance to the silencing of students that criticize the state of Israel, in resistance to the university administrators and boards of trustees who profit off the genocide of Palestinians,” the statement said.
Several dozen students began the encampment early Wednesday, some before classes had started. As the day went on, the on-campus occupation grew to include hundreds, with people representing different student, alumni and non-student groups such as By Any Means Necessary, Black Lives Matter and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Over 200 Pro-Palestine protestors continue to rally at USC, while LAPD helicopters circle overhead. No LAPD on campus at the moment but campus police has begun putting riot gear back on. As of now the situation is non violent.
— Clara Harter (@_ClaraHarter)
“Let Gaza Live,” a large sign held by students read. “Students have retaken Alumni Park — we’re not going anywhere!” social media posts claimed.
Protestorsechanted, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
USC police instructed students not to hang signs, flags or other materials from trees and posts in the park, and warned them not to use megaphones. In several , administrators warned students, faculty and visitors to avoid the center of the upper campus, due to a demonstration, unless they have a class.
In , Guzman announced that campus gates were closed to “restrict growth of the protest and keep the rest of the campus calm.” Unauthorized visitors are restricted from entering campus.
“We want to be clear that we reject speech that is hateful and that causes harm to others. In these challenging times, we call on the Trojan Family to remember that every member of our community is deserving of respect, has the right to be safe on campus, take classes, and participate in other campus activities without fear of harassment or bullying. It should be everyone’s priority to treat each other with kindness and care,” Guzman wrote.
Around midday, campus officers moved into the park in an effort to confiscate prohibited items, such as microphones and tents. There were reports of shouting matches between protesters and officers, and some students opted to pick up their tents and carry them around the park to prevent them from being confiscated.
As the standoff intensified, hundreds of people amassed around a DPS patrol vehicle and several officers. The group shouted and chanted, then ultimately moved back into Alumni Park and began marching and shouting slogans, while some USC officers formed a small skirmish line on the outskirts of the park.
Los Angeles Police Department units responded, and reports showed LAPD officers entering the campus much later in the afternoon. A monitoring LAPD helicopter hovered overhead as law enforcement patrolled the scene, donning riot gear.
A few hundred students and activists are still out here at Alumni Park at USC calling for the university to divest from organizations that “profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine”
— Hunter Lee (@huntslee)
Around 3 p.m., campus police returned outfitted in riot gear, though tensions around the protest had remained relatively calm and non-violent. Around 5:15 p.m., over — also in riot gear — ordered the protesters to disperse the park area, as the chants continued. Over 200 people were gathered just before 6 p.m.
As of 6:30 p.m., a circle of peaceful protestors occupied the middle of the park, with arms linked and many holding signs — including a list of their demands — as the crowd around them chanted. Shortly after, many of the group were being detained one by one by officers with zip ties. Some demonstrators were gathered outside of campus grounds, blocking a street intersection.
As of 7 p.m., witnesses said arrested protesters were taken one by one, processed, and put into vans to be transported to jails. Overall, there were 93 trespassing arrests and no reports of injuries, LAPD later said on social media.
LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz said one person was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly throwing things at an officer. Muniz said those arrested for trespassing were being processed.
“Patrols will remain in the area through tomorrow,” LAPD commented.
In a , USC Hillel reiterated its stance in supporting Jewish students.
“While students have a right to protest, they do not have the right to intimidate or threaten Jewish students. Today’s events on campus included a protest action that again employed antisemitic chants,” the statement read. “These actions reflect a disturbing and quickly escalating situation nationally and on our own campus… no student should feel unwelcome in their own campus home, and our Jewish students are telling us that these actions and this hostile rhetoric induce feelings of fear, terror and instability.”
Desmond Fonseca, a graduate student at UCLA, came to the campus occupation in solidarity with fellow student workers at USC. Fonseca, a student union organizer, said he’d been there early Wednesday morning and witnessed police harassing organizers. He said he saw one “dragged to the floor and thrown into a police car.” That student, he said, was later released.
“I’m here as a student and a student worker to join USC students and join the movement across the country — which is necessary to put an end to the United States government’s and institutions’ support of a genocide happening in Palestine that has claimed the lives of over 30,000 men, women in children,” Fonseca said.
The Associated Press reports that . The attacks began in retaliation to the 1,200 Israeli casualties in .
The tension between student activists and campus police seemed to reach a calm by mid-afternoon, with the group of around 300 people congregating to a corner of Alumni Park.
“We’re here because we’re advocating for peace, not more violence,” said Neil Weiner, 24, who came to the demonstration with friends. “The fact police want to treat us like we’re being violent speaks more about the school’s interests. Their job is to educate and guide their students, not defend a nation carrying out a genocide.”
Student Yasmin Khoury said she was appalled at her school’s response to the mostly-peaceful occupation earlier in the day.
“They came here to shut down our peaceful movement. How can they defend the Israeli government over their own student body?” Khoury, 23, said. “The IDF has turned every Gazan campus to rubble, [USC] should be disgusted seeing other schools be bombed into nothing.”
Police are gearing up to remove protestors at USC after an order to disperse was given about 10 min ago.
— Hunter Lee (@huntslee)
Melina Abdullah, a USC alumna and the co-founder of Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles, urged students at the demonstration to “Fight on, fight back until we have a free Palestine,” referencing the university’s fight song.
“We are anti-Zionist, anti-occupation, anti-white supremacist, anti-empire; that doesn’t mean we are anti-Semitic; that means that we call our justice-loving Jewish brothers and sisters into this fight,” Abdullah said.
Alumni Park, in the center of campus, is the setting for USC’s main-stage commencement on May 10. The event has been met with controversy after , breaking a long tradition. The move came following complaints about some of Tabassum’s online posts, including a link to a website that opposers say advocates the abolition of Israel. Some have criticized Tabassum’s posts as antisemitic.
University officials insisted their decision was not for political reasons, but due to security concerns, given over the issue of Tabassum. Organizations including the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Los Angeles (CAIR-LA), and the ACLU of Southern California denounced the decision, demanding the university reverse course.
Last Friday, 11 members of the university’s Advisory Committee on Muslim Life at USC resigned in protest over the Tabassum issue.
Last Thursday, hundreds of people — including students and some university staff — took part in a march and rally on the USC campus to protest the administrators’ decision not to allow Tabassum to speak at commencement.
In a , Tabassum — a Chino Hills resident who graduated as class valedictorian in 2020 from Ayala High School — said that “anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices have subjected me to a campaign of racist hatred because of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all.”
USC Provost Guzman insisted in his announcing the decision that the move in no way diminished “the remarkable academic achievements of any student considered or selected for valedictorian. To be clear: This decision has nothing to do with freedom of speech. There is no free-speech entitlement to speak at a commencement. The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period.”
Staff writers Victoria Ivie, Emily Holshouser, Allyson Vergara and City ɫ̳ Service contributed to this report.
