Protesters who rebuilt an encampment on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles “repeatedly chose to ignore university policies designed to benefit everyone and violate the law,” school president Carol Folt said in a statement. on Sunday.
The encampment was dismantled for the second time by the Los Angeles Police Department and the USC Department of Public Safety on Sunday morning local time.
Folt echoed the university's earlier statement that Sunday's operation was “peaceful.” The school did not report any arrests and students interviewed by CNN affiliate KABC said there was a less chaotic atmosphere than the last time police cracked down on campus.
Folt said students are returning to campus to prepare for final exams and that setting up the school's modified graduation plans is in “full swing.”
“Despite our efforts to de-escalate, the occupation was moving in a dangerous direction over the past few days,” Folt said. “This had to stop.”
People were harassed, campus property was stolen and defaced, graduation structures were dismantled, and campus police officers were assaulted by people outside the university who “jumped over the perimeter fence,” Folt alleged.
“We will not tolerate illegal camping of any kind at USC,” he said.
More background: Folt previously said he had at least two meetings with encampment protesters and presented “specific proposals that would address the concerns they had” about the school's staffing, but the two sides did not reach an agreement.
While demands vary, student protesters have generally called on universities to divest from companies and other entities they say support or profit from Israel's war in Gaza.
A USC professor who criticized the school's response to the protests told CNN last week that the university's decision to cancel the commencement speech of its Muslim valedictorian, citing security concerns, served as a catalyst for the protests. demonstrations there.
Video shows LAPD clearing encampments at USC:
