The University of California Irvine advised students to “leave” the area and buildings near where pro-Palestinian protesters were holding their protest.
“Anyone currently in buildings in the vicinity of the protest are advised to exit buildings & leave area at this time,” the University of California wrote in a post on X. “Please disregard all previous orders to shelter in place. If able, please leave immediately & continue to avoid the protest area until further notice.”
Prior to this statement, the university had issued a statement advising students and faculty to “shelter in place.”
zotALERT: Anyone currently in buildings in the vicinity of the protest are advised to exit buildings & leave area at this time. Please disregard all previous orders to shelter in place. If able, please leave immediately & continue to avoid the protest area until further notice.
— UC Irvine (@UCIrvine) May 16, 2024
The university explained that around 2:30 p.m., hundreds of protesters took over the “Physical Sciences Lecture Hall” and surrounded the building, blocking the entrance and piling tents on top of each other in an attempt to make a barrier, according to ABC7 News.
Protesters could be heard chanting, “Free, free Palestine” and “The students united will never be defeated,” according to video footage posted to X.
BREAKING: The University of California Irvine looks like a war zone after hours of protests and a building occupation. pic.twitter.com/vDpWef2nJt
— Stu (@thestustustudio) May 16, 2024
Roughly 100 hundred police officers and sheriff’s deputies were reported to have responded to the situation at the University of California Irvine campus and ordered protesters to leave the area before making arrests.
Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan issued a statement on X in which she said it was “a shame that peaceful free speech protests are always responded to with violence.”
“Taking space on campus or in a building is not a threat to anyone,” Khan wrote. “UCI leadership must do everything they can to avoid creating a violent scenario here. These are your students w/ zero weapons.”
Breitbart News reached out to the University of California Irvine for a statement but did not receive a response by the time of publication.