Hundreds of helmeted police swarmed the site of a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of California at Los Angeles early on Thursday, firing flash bangs, arresting defiant demonstrators and dismantling their encampment.

The pre-dawn police crackdown at UCLA marked the latest flashpoint in mounting tensions on U.S. college campuses, where protests over Israel’s war in Gaza have led to student clashes with each other and with law enforcement.

“I’m a student here. I’m an English major,” one student said to television cameras, as police dragged him away. “Please don’t fail us. Don’t fail us.”

Live TV footage showed officers taking down tents, tearing apart barricades and removing the encampment, while arrested protesters sat with their hands restrained behind their backs with zip-ties.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      72·
      6 months ago

      I didn’t realize there was a time, place and manner for us to freely express ourselves in protest. I thought it was an American thing to protest. Not anymore I guess.

      • Eyeuhnluuung@lemmy.world
        41·
        6 months ago

        Even first amendment rights are not unlimited. Regardless of how you feel, it’s just a simple constitutional matter. This is like middle school civics stuff.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              41·
              6 months ago

              If they are paying to go to the university and I’m paying taxes for them to go to the university, why does the university get to decide that they aren’t allowed to exercise their first amendment rights?

              • Eyeuhnluuung@lemmy.world
                11·
                6 months ago

                They are allowed to express their first amendment rights, but first amendment rights are not unlimited. See Ward v Rock Against Racism (1989) where the Supreme Court developed a test for time-place-manner restrictions.

                You can disagree with the law and very well established Supreme Court precedent, but you can’t generally argue that the universities are violating the law by creating time, place and manner restrictions for free speech (unless they are failing the time-place-manner test).