May 5, 2024 - US campus protests

Our live updates on campus protests across the US have moved here.

The University of California, Los Angeles, will return to regular operations Monday and “plans to remain this way through the rest of the week,” campus officials said in a post online.

Exams for the law school will continue as scheduled, and the university’s extension program will also resume in person.

UCLA canceled classes last week following a night marred by violence after pro-Palestinian protesters were attacked by masked men for hours without police intervention.

Officials said students, faculty and staff are advised to avoid the area of Royce Quad, between Royce Hall and the Powell Library, while repairs in the vicinity continue.

“A law enforcement presence continues to be stationed around campus to help promote safety,” the post read. 

Commencement ceremonies began at colleges and universities across the US this weekend, while administrators continue to grapple with major protests on campus.

Demands vary, but most of the demonstrators are calling for their schools to divest from companies and other entities that they say support or benefit from Israel's war in Gaza.

Here are some of the scenes that played out across the country Saturday and Sunday:

The University of California, Los Angeles, says it will change the school’s security operations in light of the violence at recent campus protests over the war in Gaza.

Chancellor Gene D. Block announced the move Sunday, saying it is clear that "urgent changes are needed in how we administer safety operations" in order to best protect the school community. He also committed to a "thorough investigation of our security processes."

Block said oversight and management of the UCLA Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management is moving to a newly created Office of Campus Safety. The office's leader will report directly to Block, the chancellor explained in a statement. 

Block also announced that Rick Braziel, the former chief of the Sacramento Police Department, will lead the office as its associate vice chancellor. Braziel has more than 30 years of experience in public safety, served as an instructor in community policing, and has led reviews of law enforcement departments and police responses, the chancellor said. 

Some context: The change comes after protesters calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the university's divestment from Israel set up an encampment on UCLA's campus.

School officials called in the police, who appeared to fire rubber bullets while clearing out the demonstrators. Masked men were also seen attacking the pro-Palestinian encampment for hours without police intervention, punching, hitting and kicking the protesters, according to video from the scene and witness accounts.

Block acknowledged in his statement that recent events had "strained trust within our community," but did not reference a specific incident.

Demonstrators who rebuilt an encampment on the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles “repeatedly chose to ignore university policies designed to benefit everyone, and to break the law,” the school's President Carol Folt said in a statement Sunday.

The encampment was dismantled by the Los Angeles Police Department and USC’s Department of Public Safety for a second time early Sunday morning local time.

Folt echoed the university's earlier statement that Sunday's operation was “peaceful.” The school did not report any arrests, and students interviewed by CNN affiliate KABC said there was a less chaotic atmosphere than the last time police cracked down on campus.

Folt said students are returning to campus to prepare for finals, and that setup for the school's modified commencement plans is in “full swing.” 

“Despite our efforts to de-escalate, the occupation was spiraling in a dangerous direction over the last several days,” Folt said. “This had to stop.” 

People were harassed, campus property was stolen and defaced, commencement structures were dismantled, and campus police officers were assaulted by people from outside the university who “jumped the perimeter fencing,” Folt alleged. 

More background: Folt has previously said she had at least two meetings with encampment protesters and brought "specific proposals that would address concerns they had" about the school's endowment, but the two sides did not come to an agreement.

While demands vary, student protesters have generally called on universities to divest 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.

Video shows LAPD clearing encampments at USC:

Chicago police are on campus at DePaul University Sunday after the school said pro-Palestinian protests had “escalated” beyond the campus safety office's control.

Video shot by CNN at the scene shows large crowds of police, protesters and counter-protesters, but no obvious signs of violence or vandalism.

"​Today’s protest escalated requiring intervention beyond DePaul’s Office of Public Safety,” the university said in a statement.

The university posted online about a heavy police presence on the Lincoln Park Quad, advising anyone on campus to remain indoors.

CNN has reached out to the Chicago Police Department for more information.

Watch video of the protest:

The Chicago Police Department said Sunday that it arrested 68 people during a demonstration at the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturday.

Authorities had previously said they arrested around 50 people, including students from the affiliated School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Police provided a timeline on the lead-up to the arrests, saying they first issued a warning to disperse at 4:11 p.m. local time, then issued a second warning to disperse at 4:20 p.m.

“The third and final warning was issued at 4:30 p.m. The demonstrators were given another opportunity to leave without arrest, which several did,” police said.

“Following these warnings, ​dozens of demonstrators were arrested for criminal trespass to property. Within 20 minutes of the final warning, the area was cleared.”

The police statement did not specify what other charges those arrested might face.

CNN has reached out to school administrators for information about how many of those taken into custody were students.

University of Southern California’s main campus has reopened to students, faculty and staff after a protest encampment was cleared by the Los Angeles Police Department and school law enforcement early Sunday, university officials announced on X. 

Valid school identification is required to enter the University Park campus, USC officials said.

“Tents and related equipment remain prohibited on campus and will be subject to immediate confiscation,” the post reads.

Some background: USC has seen weeks of anti-war protests at its Los Angeles campus, and the pro-Palestinian encampment cleared Sunday was not the first to form at the school in recent days.

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. The school later canceled its main commencement ceremony altogether.

USC's President Carol Folt has had at least two meetings with encampment protesters and says she brought "specific proposals that would address concerns they had" about the school's endowment, but the two sides did not come to an agreement.

The number of campus protesters arrested at demonstrations across the US has continued to rise since the first demonstrators were detained at Columbia University two weeks ago.

More than 250 protesters were arrested on May 2, after April 30 saw the largest number of arrests in a day since protests began with nearly 400, according to a CNN review of university and law enforcement statements.

More than 2,200 people have been arrested on college and university campuses since April 18, according to CNN's ongoing review.

This map shows where people have been taken into custody so far: