STORY: Dozens of protesters were arrested on the campus grounds as police led a pre-dawn crackdown at UCLA, the latest flashpoint for mounting tensions on U.S. college campuses. Demonstrations over Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza have led to student clashes with each other and law enforcement.
Starting around sunset on Wednesday (May 1), officers in tactical gear began filing onto the UCLA campus adjacent to a complex of tents occupied by throngs of demonstrators, live footage from the scene showed.
But the assembled police stood by on the periphery of the tents for hours before finally starting to force their way into the encampment around 3:15 a.m. PDT (1015 GMT) to arrest occupants who refused to leave. The raid was led by a phalanx of California Highway Patrol officers carrying shields and batons.
Local media estimated 300 to 500 were hunkered down inside the camp, while around 2,000 more had gathered outside the barricades in support.
