After nearly six weeks of a peaceful encampment at Cal State L.A., a group of pro-Palestinian protesters took over a campus building on Wednesday afternoon, stranding about half-a-dozen employees on an upper floor who were told to shelter in place. Hours later, they were still there.
The protesters blocked off entrances and exits to the student services building in what university officials called an “unauthorized” action.
University spokesperson Erik Frost Hollins said the group of 50 to 100 protesters had barricaded the exits on the first floor and blocked pathways around the building. The university asked employees on the upper floors to shelter in place and everyone else to leave the area.
As of 9:30 p.m., about six employees were still in the building unable to leave, Hollins said. A group of law enforcement officers from various agencies were gathered in front of the university police station as helicopters buzzed overhead.
“It’s just not an area where we can provide any sort of expectation of safety for employees leaving the building,” Hollins said. “Since we are in a position where critical parts of the university … are not able to do what they need to do, it made sense to encourage all employees and students to leave the campus.”
Hollins said the university did receive an email from the group — the CSU LA Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which has been camped near the campus gym for about 40 days — indicating that they were staging a sit-in in the building. They also did not comment on how the university planned to respond other than to say campus police “are aware and they are in the area.” The Police Department declined to comment.
Hollins said the university had worked hard to provide space for peaceful, nonviolent protest.
“Unfortunately, this action went in a different direction today,” they said.
Shortly after 7 p.m., the encampment was quiet, with only a handful of people. The space was closed off by plywood, pallets and metal campus picnic tables.
Pieces of plywood were spray painted with, “The time to escalate is now!” and “CSU stop funding genocide.”
At the student services building across campus, protesters, who covered their faces with kaffiyehs and masks, blocked access with yellow outdoor umbrellas from around campus. Some of them carried supplies, such as boxes of Yerba Mates, coolers, paper cups and paper plates.
