Demonstrators who rebuilt an encampment on the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles “repeatedly chose to ignore university policies designed to benefit everyone, and to break the law,” the school’s President Carol Folt said in a statement Sunday.
The encampment was dismantled by the Los Angeles Police Department and USC’s Department of Public Safety for a second time early 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 finals, and that setup for the school’s modified commencement plans is in “full swing.”
“Despite our efforts to de-escalate, the occupation was spiraling in a dangerous direction over the last several days,” Folt said. “This had to stop.”
People were harassed, campus property was stolen and defaced, commencement structures were dismantled, and campus police officers were assaulted by people from outside the university who “jumped the perimeter fencing,” Folt alleged.
“We will not tolerate illegal encampments of any kind at USC,” she said.
More background: Folt has previously said she had at least two meetings with encampment protesters and brought “specific proposals that would address concerns they had” about the school’s endowment, but the two sides did not come to an agreement.
While demands vary, student protesters have generally called on universities to divest from companies and other entities that they say support or benefit from Israel’s war in Gaza.
A USC professor who has criticized the school’s response to protests told CNN last week that the university’s decision to cancel its Muslim valedictorian’s commencement speech, citing safety concerns, served as a catalyst for demonstrations there.
Video shows LAPD clearing encampments at USC:
