Top New York prosecutor says 280 people arrested at campus protests; independent review into UCLA violence – live

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Standoff between police and demonstrators at New York’s Fordham University

There’s another standoff between police and demonstrators in the heart of Manhattan this evening, with students at Fordham University’s pro-Palestinian solidarity encampment preparing for arrests by the police.

You can follow Fordham’s student newspaper for up-to-minute updates:

After violent UCLA attack, University of California orders independent review

The Los Angeles Times reports that Michael Drake, the president of the University of California system, has ordered an independent review of the UCLA administration’s planning, after a late-night attack on a pro-Palestinian student encampment resulted in at least 15 people being injured.

Among the most essential questions from the perspective of faculty members, David Myers, a UCLA professor of Jewish history, said, was: “Where were the police?”

Blame game begins over law enforcement failures during violent attacks at UCLA

This is Lois Beckett, picking up our live news coverage from Los Angeles.

Earlier today, the office of California governor Gavin Newsom publicly condemned an “unacceptable” campus law enforcement response after masked counter-protesters attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment on UCLA’s campus, sparking hours of uninterrupted violence and frantic messages from students at the encampment who said that police had abandoned them.

News outlets on the ground reported that attacks on the pro-Palestinian student encampment continued from 11pm to 3am, with security guards and campus law enforcement retreating or failing to intervene. Newsom’s office called this response “limited and delayed” and said it “demands answers”.

The law enforcement agencies involved are not being quick to provide those answers. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles police department deferred all comment to UCLA’s campus police department, saying it was the “lead agency” at the incident.

UCLA’s campus police, who according to UCLA’s student newspaper arrived on scene and then retreated within minutes, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UCLA’s press office also did not respond to questions from the Guardian about the law enforcement delays.

Initial reporting on the ground suggested that many different law enforcement agencies failed to stop the middle-of-the-night attacks. While officers from multiple local and state law enforcement agencies eventually arrived on scene close to 2am, police in riot gear were present for at least an hour while violence continued right in front of them, and they did not intervene, the Los Angeles Times and CalMatters reported.

This day so far

College campuses across the US are roiling after police waged mass arrests against peaceful, pro-Palestine protesters.

Here’s a glimpse of what has happened so far:

Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, confirmed that 280 people on the Columbia University and Cuny campuses had been arrested on Tuesday. Bragg has not confirmed reports from city and police officials that “outside agitators” had infiltrated student-led protests.

Cuny students with the university’s Gaza Solidarity encampment criticized New York police officers for their “brutal and spineless” arrests of protesters. “We will not be intimidated by these brutal and spineless tactics … We will not stop until these demands are met,” read a statement from students posted on social media.

California governor Gavin Newsom condemned the violence at UCLA. Posting on X, he criticized the “limited and delayed” law enforcement response on Tuesday night, describing it as “unacceptable”.

UCLA cancelled all classes on Wednesday after counter-demonstrators attacked pro-Palestine protestors overnight. “Due to the distress caused by the violence that took place on Royce Quad late last night and early this morning, all classes are cancelled today,” read a statement from the university.

Minouche Shafik, the Columbia University president, sent an email following the use of New York police to lead mass arrests at Tuesday’s protests on campus. In the email sent Wednesday, Shafik said that NYPD had been used because “students and outside activists [were] breaking Hamilton Hall doors, mistreating our Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damaging property ... ”.

New York police said the wife of a man convicted of terrorism was not at protests on Columbia’s campus on Tuesday, walking back claims from city and police officials. NYPD deputy commissioner Rebecca Weiner said the woman, who has yet to be publicly identified, was not a part of any protests last night and that police “have no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing on her part”, the New York Daily News reported.

At least one high school started their own encampment in solidarity with university students at Columbia and beyond, according to a flyer from students at Iowa City’s City high.

Police tore down encampments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison early on Wednesday, in yet another crackdown on a peaceful student protest. Several protesters, mostly students, were detained by police.

My colleague on the west coast will be taking over coverage of protests and reactions across the country.

Thank you for reading!

Bragg added that his office has not determined how many arrested protesters are “outside agitators”, as city and police officials have alleged.

Bragg said that part of the DA’s investigation will be to identify those arrested and that the student status of protestors is “certainly something we will learn as we proceed”.

Manhattan DA says about 280 people arrested at New York campus protests

Alvin Bragg said that approximately 280 people had been arrested between protests at Columbia University and the City University of New York, or Cuny.

“There were approximately 280 total arrests from these two events,” the Manhattan DA confirmed during Wednesday’s press conference.

About 100 arrests are desk-appearance tickets or for charges that will be “making their way through the system”, Bragg said.

“As my office does … we will look carefully at each individual case on our docket and make decisions based on the facts and the law,” Bragg added.

Bragg said that part of the DA’s investigation will include looking at body-camera footage from Tuesday and interviewing witnesses.

Earliest arraignments for individuals will take place either later in the afternoon or in the evening, Bragg confirmed.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg to hold press conference after mass arrests

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, will be speaking at a press conference about the mass arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters on New York City campuses shortly.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Cuny students with the university’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment group have criticized New York police officers for their “brutal and spineless” arrests of protesters.

In a statement posted to X, student protesters say the encampments were peaceful and “engaged in craft workshops, teach-ins and choir performances” earlier in the day.

The students voted unanimously to remain in the encampments overnight.

The students then say that the Cuny president, Vincent G Boudreau, requested NYPD officers, who “viciously attacked” demonstrators.

“Police broke the ankle of an undergraduate student, broke the teeth of two protesters, attacked and burned many students, faculty and at least one journalist with pepper spray at close range, and beat many more with batons,” the student group said in the statement.

The student group added: “We will not be intimidated by these brutal and spineless tactics … We will not stop until these demands are met.”

Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union, has called for the release of students who have been arrested.

In a series of posts to X, Fain said the UAW “will never support the mass arrest or intimidation of those exercising their right to protest, strike, or speak out against injustice”, adding:

Our union has been calling for a ceasefire for six months. This war is wrong, and this response against students and academic workers, many of them UAW members, is wrong.

Classes remain cancelled at Portland State University in Oregon as a number of protesters continued to occupy a university library on Wednesday.

The university’s president, Ann Cudd, said the administration plans for “a return to classes and regular university operations as soon as possible”.

Protesters began occupying the library on Monday night, and have been warned by university leaders and city officials to leave or face possible charges. About 50 people left the library overnight after the administration offered not to seek criminal charges, expulsion or other discipline, AP reported.

“I urge anyone in the campus community who is able to communicate with friends, family or colleagues inside the Library, to encourage them to leave,” Cudd wrote in an email to university staff and students on Tuesday.

We are trying our best to keep everyone safe while ending this unlawful occupation of our library.

California governor Gavin Newsom condemns violence at UCLA

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has condemned the violence at UCLA last night. Posting to X, he wrote:

The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus. Those who engage in illegal behavior must be held accountable for their actions – including through criminal prosecution, suspension, or expulsion.

A statement from his press office criticized the “limited and delayed” law enforcement response on Tuesday night, describing it as “unacceptable”.

Jared Hoffmann, a Jewish student at the City College of New York, studying documentary filmmaking, said:

The protesters are here in support of the encampment, for SJP, Students for Justice in Palestine and I suspect they’re protesting the brutality of the war in Gaza.

[The students] certainly have strong convictions … a feeling that Zionism itself is aligned with all of the brutal oppressive powers on Earth and various political structures and they consider this an unjust war beyond any sort of any doubt.

I don’t think there’s been an enormous amount of antisemitism, but certainly you can feel within some of the anger and the zealotry of the protesters that there’s a particular zeal to protest against Israel that you might not feel in other protests. It’s a little easier to lump Israel in with KKK and the NYPD as oppressive forces perhaps and that’s connected to some antisemitism.