A pro-Palestinian mob locked arms and surrounded a Los Angeles Police Department vehicle until officers released a detained protester during a tense standoff on the University of Southern California’s campus Wednesday, multiple social media videos show.
A pro-Palestinian protest quickly turned violent as police wrestled tents and tarps from the hands of protesters and detained at least one individual, skycam video Fox 11 LA posted to YouTube shows. A group of protesters appeared to surround a cop car that allegedly held a student who police detained, refusing to move until police finally let the student go after 20 minutes, LA Times’ Angie Orellana Hernandez reported.
The previously detained student then motioned for the protesters to clear the area and make room for the cop car to exit. The students appeared to comply as the detainee pleaded with them to move. (RELATED: Columbia Faculty Orchestrate Walkout On Behalf Of Pro-Palestinian Protesters)
.@USC students not letting car with detained student leave the plaza pic.twitter.com/S3fmM3qLNP
— angie (@angorellanah) April 24, 2024
The skirmish quickly appeared to turn violent as police wrestled tents and tarps from the hands of protestors, some of whom weren’t even students, according to ABC’s Josh Haskell.
This is turning very ugly at USC with protesters, not all are students, face off with campus police pic.twitter.com/CfmFcBAplD
— Josh Haskell (@abc7JoshHaskell) April 24, 2024
The video Hernandez posted to Twitter appears to show the moment the police detained the student in question.
Police break out batons at USC pic.twitter.com/6tkawS2x07
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 24, 2024
Cops and USC Public Safety officers wrapped up the apparent student, who was wearing a signifying bright yellow vest in both videos, as their colleagues brandished batons and kept other protesters at bay while they dragged the detainee away.
The upheaval taking place on USC’s campus mirrored protests on campuses across the country including at Columbia, UT Austin, Harvard, Yale and Michigan.