At least 25 universities across California have experienced protests over the past few weeks calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Such include USC, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, Cal Poly Humboldt, Cal State Long Beach, and Stanford University.
Protests have ranged from relatively quiet and peaceful—with staged student walkouts and rallies at several campuses, including UC Riverside, San Diego State, and Cal Poly Pomona—to some that have turned violent and led to arrests.
To date, police have been called in at four campuses in the state.
A weeklong protest at Cal Poly Humboldt in Northern California—in which protesters occupied two buildings and set up tent encampments on campus—ended on April 30 in the arrest of more than 25 people. The protests caused officials to shut down campus for the remainder of the semester until May 10.
Meanwhile at UCLA, more than 200 people were arrested May 2 as police also dismantled a massive encampment made of tents, plywood, and other materials.
On April 25, police dispersed a large protest and arrested 93 people on USC’s campus.
And earlier last month, 20 protesters were arrested at Pomona College after they occupied the office of university President Gabrielle Starr.
Protesters are calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, which began Oct. 7 with Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,400 people and saw the taking of 253 hostages.
Since then, Israeli strikes have killed about 33,600 Palestinians and injured more than 76,200, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported last month. Some hostages captured by Hamas have been released, but at least 32 have reportedly been killed in captivity.
