Police took people into custody and cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment Wednesday more than two weeks after it was established on the UC Irvine campus.
The university sent out an alert advising students to avoid the area after the protest on campus escalated. Officers in tactical gear confronted protesters after they were ordered to leave the area.
Protesters surrounded the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall early Wednesday afternoon. They were led in chants of "We won't move'' and "shame."
The university sent a message to students around 6 p.m. indicating anyone in building and the area of the protest should leave. Police and deputies began arresting protesters and dismantling the encampment by early evening after declaring an unlawful assembly and ordering the crowd to disperse.
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In a statement released to the campus community, UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman expressed disappointment in the protesters' actions.
At 8:25 p.m., UC Irvine sent an update in a social media post announcing that classes would be remote on Thursday.
"I was prepared to allow a peaceful encampment to exist on the campus without resorting to police intervention, even though the encampment violated our policies and the existence of the encampment was a matter of great distress to other members of our community," the statement read. "I communicated that if there were violations of our rules we would address them through the normal administrative policies of the university and not through police action."
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According to campus police, 200 protesters closed off the Physical Science Lecture Hall, prompting the closure of the area surrounding the encampment.
No classes were in session at the time. The university announced classes scheduled for Thursday will be held virtually.
