A brawl erupted at University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) after a pro-Palestinian encampment was “forcefully attacked,” the school's chancellor said on May 1, while activists at the University of Wisconsin in Madison clashed with police officers who destroyed their tents, in a day of escalating violence on some college campuses over the war in Gaza.
Fifteen people were injured during the UCLA confrontation, including one person who was hospitalized, according to the president of the University of California system. The chaotic scenes unfolded on Wednesday after police burst into a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday night, breaking up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school. In Madison on Wednesday, police with shields removed all but one tent and shoved protesters, resulting in a scrum. Four officers were injured, including a state trooper who was hit in the head with a skateboard, according to University of Wisconsin police spokesperson Marc Lovicott. More than 30 people were arrested, most of them released without charges, but four were charged with battering law enforcement, police said.