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VOL. 13,
NO. 170
Police dismantle UCLA Palestine encampment, arrest over 100
Biden signs proclamation expanding San Gabriel Mountains National Monument
By Staff
By City News Service
P
olice dismantled a protest encampment at UCLA early Thursday, and arrested more than 100 pro-Palestine demonstrators. According to published reports, the California Highway Patrol led the encampmentclearing operation beginning around 2:45 a.m. Police initially encountered resistance from protesters near the west side of Royce Hall, while officers were more successful on the building’s east side. There police moved through a trash-bin barricade, reached the perimeter of the encampment and proceeded to tear down metal barricades and plywood planks that encircled the camp. Officers then began detaining protesters and used flash-bang devices as they penetrated into the encampment. People inside the encampment wrote on social media that officers fired less-than-lethal projectiles at them, City
T
LAPD for a line on the UCLA campus ahead of a CHP-led effort to dismantle the weeklong Palestine Solidarity Encampment. | Photo courtesy of Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
officers. By 4:45 a.m. police had cleared the area and established positions on the encampment’s northern and eastern sides. Some encampment occupants began to leave the area voluntarily at that point, walking west where
to support their cause. Just before 7 a.m., CHP Officer Alec Pereyda told Fox11 that 132 people were
noon, UC President Michael V. Drake, in a letter to the University of California Board of Regents, said that
California Highway Patrol officers fence off the area of the protest encampment. | Photo courtesy of Darlene L, Matt Baretto/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Students and supporters gather Wednesday after learning that police were en route to dismantle the protest encampment. | Photo courtesy of Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
News Service reported. By 4 a.m. officers had dismantled most of the east side of the encampment, but hundreds of protesters linked arms and faced an equally long line of
no police lines were established carrying tents and possessions. However, a significant number of protesters remained with the apparent intention of being arrested
arrested. Classes were canceled Wednesday at UCLA after violence erupted on campus when counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestine encampment. The hourslong violence and the school’s response prompted calls for investigations. By Wednesday afterSee UCLA protest Page 27
there was “sufficient confusion” around the violent event to warrant an independent external review of the school’s actions and response by police. According to media reports, tensions escalated around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when counter-protesters, some garbed in black and
he San Gabriel Mountains National Monument will be expanded in a proclamation signed by President Joe Biden Thursday. It is part of the White House administration’s American the Beautiful Initiative and will add nearly 106,000 acres to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. President Barack Obama designated the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in 2014. The proclamation by Biden will add 105,919 acres of U.S. Forest Service lands to the south and west of the current monument’s 346,177 acres; protect additional cultural, scientific, and historic objects; and expand access to outdoor recreation on our shared public lands for generations to come, according to a release from the White House. Biden is also signing a proclamation to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument on Thursday. It will protect a total of 120,000 acres in California. “What a momentous day for Angelenos,” said U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park. “Thanks to the passionate advocacy for many decades of a vibrant, diverse coalition of Indigenous community leaders, community activists, and nature-lovers across Southern California, President Biden is expanding the boundaries of the existing San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and protecting more of a national treasure in our backyard. The expanded areas in the San Gabriel Mountains were once home to indigenous tribes — the Gabrieleño, also known as Kizh, or Tongva — and the Chumash, Kitanemuk, Serrano and Tataviam peoples. The designated areas of expansion are part of Tribal Nations and other indigenous peoples in the region, and are used for ceremonial purposes, as well as for collecting traditional plants important for basketry, food and medicine. The land in the San Gabriel Mountains is also home to the endangered California condors. It provides key habitats that support wetland dependent plant species, fish and amphibians, and animal migrant corridors. “We are thrilled that the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is expanding,” said Rudy Ortega Jr., president of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. “We thank the Biden administration for making this longstanding vision a reality. Expanding the Monument helps protect lands of cultural importance to my people who are part of this nation’s history and who have cared for these lands since time immemorial. It also further protects areas that are critical for our environment and the wildlife and plants that depend on this landscape.” Chief Anthony Morales of the Garbrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians said it is worth celebrating the expansion. “The San Gabriel Mountains are historically significant to our tribe, our people, and our culture,” he said. “Protecting more of this important region helps protect our traditional plants and cultural resources. We join Senator (Alex) Padilla and Representative Chu in thanking President Biden for using the Antiquities Act to expand See SGV Monument Page 28