On Thursday afternoon, speakers from the USC Divest From Death Coalition, responsible for organizing a protest the previous day, re-shared their platform, demands and aims during a press conference held at the corner of the entrance to the USC Village.
Pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment on campus early Wednesday morning with the intention of occupying Alumni Park. A few hours later, a TrojansAlert stated there was “significant activity at the center of the UPC campus due to a demonstration.”
Following DPS’s request to remove the tents and their attempted arrest of an organizer around noon that was thwarted by protestors, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was called to campus, as reported by Annenberg Media.
At about 1:30 p.m., USC made another announcement through the TrojansAlert system that the middle of campus was still experiencing “significant activity.” As a result, gates were closed and USC IDs were required to enter campus.
Metro officers in riot gear began surrounding campus and the demonstrators at Alumni Park with batons, shields and “less-than-lethal” weapons around 4 p.m.
Roughly two hours later, another TrojansAlert went out warning students that anyone at the center of campus would be arrested.
As evening fell, LAPD pushed students off school grounds and fired a single rubber bullet at the crowd. A full timeline from the perspective of the demonstrators can be found on the group’s news release.
LAPD confirmed with Annenberg Media that 93 arrests were made, of which the coalition approximated 50 to 60 were students.
Those arrested were charged with misdemeanor trespassing and were processed at the Metropolitan Division in Downtown Los Angeles and the 77th St. Community Police Station, according to LAPD. As of Thursday morning, everyone detained had been released.
Senior Olivia Eskenazi, one of the students arrested at the protest, said officers were not transparent about where they were taking her, were unnecessarily rough during her pat down and seemed confused about how to book protesters.
“When I initially got arrested, they put on my cuffs so tight that my wrists turned blue and purple,” Eskenazi said. “And I had to beg the officer to cut them off because I literally couldn’t feel my hands.”
When she was giving her information to the officer on campus, Eskenazi saw his additional notes on the sheet referred to her as “fat girl.” She called the experience awkward, uncomfortable and dehumanizing.
In the group’s original press release, the Divest From Death Coalition had a list of six demands, including full transparency of USC endowment and investments from “companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine” and to protect free speech on campus. The group said its demands remain the same.
“It’s clear that students, once again, are a voice of justice and a voice of reason,” said the Jewish-American and USC Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) representative, who declined to provide their name citing concerns for their safety. “As we are here at these elite universities… we are so grateful and we are so honored to be standing in solidarity with all these universities… that are using their voices to speak out most fundamentally for Palestine and the Palestinian people.”
Alongside the press conference Thursday, protesters set up a second demonstration at Alumni Park called the Gaza Solidarity Occupation. They laid on the ground silently for a die-in, which they said symbolized the more than 30,000 Palestinians killed so far in the Israel-Hamas war. A media liaison for two pro-Palestine groups organizing the demonstration said it was planned with a different goal than the previous day’s protest.
“The purpose of this die-in specifically is to maintain the safety of all students,” said the junior, who would only speak to Annenberg Media on the condition of anonymity citing safety concerns. “This die-in complies with all [the university’s] requirements. It is a way to continue our occupation to ensure the safety of everyone involved.”
In accordance with university guidelines, there were no tents set up and no decorations were hung from the trees.
Students involved either declined to speak to Annenberg Media during the event or only spoke on the condition of anonymity. Protesters held signs, banners and flags in support of Palestine, with some wearing keffiyehs.
However, students were not the only people involved. Plenty of faculty and at least one retired professor were there in support of the cause as well as concerned local residents who had no USC affiliation.
“We are here to support Palestine, but also to support our students who were attacked by LAPD for trying to exercise their political right to speak,” a faculty member with the Palestine Justice Faculty Group said. “Palestinian solidarity doesn’t threaten anybody. It’s the police and administration that threaten people, including faculty for fear of retaliation from administration. Many fear for their careers when they speak out.”
The media liaison for the coalition claimed that despite how the protest the day before ended, those at the die-in were happy to be able to peacefully hold USC accountable and continue the occupation.
“We hope to show USC that this extreme act of aggression will not affect our commitment to the liberation of the Palestine people which we believe can be achieved through USC disclosing investments and defending their students.”
While the press conference was happening, a group of Jewish students held a demonstration and memorial across the street in front of the Trousdale entrance as an opportunity for “anyone that felt marginalized, or ostracized during yesterday’s protests, Jewish students or otherwise, to be able to come and eat lunch with us.”
The demonstration mimicked a Passover Seder, a family meal including traditional foods, prayer and recitation of the story of Exodus with students setting up a dinner table and taping pictures of hostages held in Gaza to each chair.
“This is in honor of those people who could not be at their Seder table this year,” Sabrina Jehan, a senior Marshall student, said. “It’s about showing that the Jewish community stands together in honor of the hostages, as should the rest of the world.”
While the Jewish demonstration remained on the crosswalk until 4 p.m., a die-in that started at noon in Founder’s Park will continue the coalition’s occupation. The solidarity occupation schedules can be found on the S.C.A.L.E. at USC Instagram account.
Myriam Alcala contributed to this report.