LOS ANGELES, June 13 (Xinhua) — California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) has urged students and staff to shelter in place after a group of pro-Palestinian protesters took over the university’s student services building on Wednesday.
The protesters have been engaged in unauthorized protest activity on the lower floors of the building and barricaded the building, said Erik Frost Hollins, a university spokesperson.
President of Cal State LA Berenecea Johnson Eanes, who was appointed last year and took office this January, is stuck sheltering in place in her office on the eighth floor of the building, reported local KABC television station.
Some social media posts show protesters fortifying their barricades outside the building as they wait for Eanes to negotiate with them.
The protest came two days after 25 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Monday by police at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Students set up a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Cal State LA on May 1, calling for the university and its partners to divest from doing business with Israel.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been spreading at colleges and universities across California and the country amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.