USC closes main campus as police clear out pro-Palestinian protest encampment

Police gather on the University of Southern California campus prior to clearing out an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on May 5, in Los Angeles. Ryan Sun/AP

Police officers have moved in on the pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus of University of Southern California, the school said early Sunday morning.

Officials have closed the school’s primary campus, University Park Campus, while Los Angeles Police Department and school law enforcement officers clear the protest site, according to campus alerts.

If you are in the center of campus, please leave. People who don’t leave could be arrested,” USC posted on X.

Videos posted online early Sunday from witnesses and local media appear to show LAPD officers in riot gear assembling in large numbers at the edge of campus.

Some context: USC has seen major protests at its Los Angeles campus over the past several weeks. The prestigious school's president has met with encampment protesters multiple times, but said last week that USC has been unable to reach a deal with them.

The school warned Thursday that students arrested during on-campus protests could face disciplinary action from the university, according to student newspaper the Daily Trojan.

While demands have varied among schools and even within protest movements, students demonstrating across the US have called on institutions to disinvest from companies and other entities that they say support or benefit from Israel's war in Gaza.

A USC professor who has criticized the school's response to protests told CNN last week that the university's decision to cancel its Muslim valedictorian's commencement speech, citing safety concerns, served as a catalyst for demonstrations there.