On the day UCLA Chancellor Gene Block testified before Congress about efforts to combat antisemitism on campus, pro-Palestinian activists rekindled protests on campus and briefly built a new encampment on Thursday, May 23. Related: UCLA Chancellor Block grilled by Congressional committee Protesters used tables, metal fences, plywood and other materials to block off a section of campus between Kerckhoff and Moore halls, a main walkway used by students traversing the Westwood campus. By afternoon, the demonstrators had occupied Dodd Hall, with dozens of protestors inside and hundreds more outside, and marched through the campus.
The protesters dispersed around 1:15 p.m. after police declared an unlawful assembly and threatened arrests.
Some protesters returned to Dodd Hall later in the day, and other protests were visible on campus, but it was unclear if the demonstrations would endure. More than a hundred students occupied Dodd Hall, with some preparing to leave once the police arrived and others planning to stay for the long haul. Kenza, a student media liaison for the protest movement who did not use her last name as a safety policy, said she wasn’t worried about how swiftly the encampment was shut down.
“This was just a test to see if students were just as mobilized as they were a couple of weeks ago, because the university and administration likes to believe that their oppression is working,” she said. “It just didn’t make sense to have our entire group of people.
