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‘Gaza Solidarity Occupation’ at USC continues after police shutdown — as it happened
Last updated:
(Jordan Renville / Daily Trojan)
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Christina Chkarboul, Nicholas Corral, Sasha Ryu, Eva Hartman, Nathan Elias, Elizabeth Kunz, Jennifer Nehrer, Talia Wexler, Zachary Whalen & Jonathan Park reporting; photos by Zongyi Wang, Jordan Renville, Kate McQuarrie & Joy Wang
After a few days at nearby Founders Park, protesters moved the encampment back to its original spot at Alumni Park.
- More than 60 Los Angeles Police Department vehicles were seen parked on campus Saturday night as protesters completed their transfer to Alumni Park. Police issued a citywide tactical alert in response to unspecified “disturbances” on campus, then later called off the tactical alert at 11 p.m.
- After their second meeting with President Carol Folt on Tuesday, organizers said Folt told them “supposedly less than 2% of USC’s endowment is invested in companies actively contributing to the genocide” in Gaza, which they calculated as $152 million. Folt, in her own statement, said negotiators “seemed more interested in having me issue a political statement” than discussing practical solutions, a claim that organizers disputed: “We demand a ‘practical solution’ in the form of divestments and disclosures,” they said.
- The graduate student workers’ union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the University, the union announced Monday afternoon, for at least six alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act. The United Auto Workers Local 872 union said at least five of its members were among the 93 arrested at Wednesday’s clampdown of the encampment protest.
- A swastika was found graffitied on a fencepost at the south end of campus. “Clearly,” Folt wrote in a statement after USC Hillel called on the administration to act, the since-removed swastika “was drawn there right now just to incite even more anger at a time that is so painful for our community.”
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APRIL 30, 2024 8:38 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
In a statement Tuesday night, the USC Divest from Death Coalition wrote it was “once again … deeply disappointed” after its second meeting with President Carol Folt, General Counsel Beong-soo Kim and Vice President of Student Life Monique Allard.
Folt told organizers “supposedly less than 2% of USC’s endowment is invested in companies actively contributing to the genocide,” the statement read, which they calculated as $152 million. The Daily Trojan could not immediately confirm this number.
“The administration is aware of where its money goes, and chooses to withhold information from its communities,” organizers wrote. “Transparency is within reach: they simply refuse and defer to bureaucratic internal processes that fail to meet any of our demands.”
Kim, the general counsel, also said he could not confirm the administration sanctioned “unnecessary use of force” against protesters “before there’s been an investigation,” according to the statement.
Folt and other administrators also “refuse to acknowledge the genocide in Palestine,” organizers wrote, despite negotiators in the meeting “informing her of the numerous international bodies, genocide scholars, human rights organizations, and the overwhelming majority of the world who recognize its factual legitimacy.”
“We do not want a ‘political statement’ from USC, as Folt alleges in her inaccurate account of our meeting,” the statement read. “We demand a ‘practical solution’ in the form of divestments and disclosures.”
APRIL 30, 2024 5:41 p.m.
Nathan Elias, News Editor
After a second meeting with protesters, President Carol Folt wrote in a statement posted to social media Tuesday afternoon that they “seemed more interested in having me issue a political statement in support of their viewpoint as opposed to coming up with practical solutions to resolve the situation.”
Folt also wrote that her administration brought up “very specific proposals” addressing USC’s endowment during the meeting.
The statement comes one day after their first round of negotiations. In a statement published to social media after the meeting, the USC Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation wrote that Folt’s administration “did not come to the meeting with any actionable insights or concrete steps to address our demands.”
APRIL 30, 2024 4:45 p.m.
Talia Wexler, Breaking News Writer
A swastika was found Tuesday on a campus fencepost on Exposition Boulevard adjacent to the Expo/Vermont station. It is unclear at this time who drew the swastika.
“We expect our administration to demonstrate moral clarity and leadership, to condemn this overt act of antisemitism, and to directly address hatred on our campus wherever it manifests,” USC Hillel wrote in a statement posted to Instagram Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement, President Carol Folt wrote the University was “going to work to get to the bottom of this immediately.”
“I condemn any antisemitic symbols or other forms of hate speech as deplorable,” Folt wrote. “Clearly, it was drawn there right now just to incite even more anger at a time that is so painful for our community.”
Folt deleted then reuploaded the statement to add that the swastika has been removed.
APRIL 30, 2024 4:36 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
Two people were detained Tuesday afternoon for “taking pallets from behind the bookstore,” Assistant Chief David Carlisle confirmed to the Daily Trojan. Carlisle could “not confirm at this time” if the detainees are students, and had no other information, citing an “ongoing investigation.”
Encampment organizers declined to comment.
APRIL 30, 2024 2:17 p.m.
Christina Chkarboul, Associate Managing Editor
President Carol Folt, Vice President for Student Life Monique Allard and protest organizers are meeting at Tutor Campus Center for their second round of negotiations.
APRIL 30, 2024 2:15 p.m.
Nathan Elias, News Editor
Because of the ongoing protests, faculty have the discretion to relocate or cancel their final exams in the event of a disruption and explore alternatives for assessing final grades, according to a message sent to faculty from Vice Provost for Academic Programs Andrew McConnell Stott obtained by the Daily Trojan.
In the message, Stott also recommended that faculty who cancel their finals provide additional graded work to accommodate students who planned to use the final to raise their grade. USC implemented an “enhanced accommodations protocol, similar to what was used during COVID,” for students during this time.
APRIL 30, 2024 2:13 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
There’s a new “Free Speech Area” designated behind Leavey Library. A source with inside knowledge said the sign was placed last night.
(Jonathan Park / Daily Trojan)
APRIL 30, 2024 12:53 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
Day 7 of the Gaza Solidarity Occupation began after a difficult start to negotiations with the University and a peaceful night at the encampment punctuated by chants, speeches and dabke.
The newest addition to the occupied sector of Alumni Park is a number of wooden pallets lining the perimeter, some with pro-Palestine signage taped onto them.
APRIL 29, 2024 8:06 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
After meeting with President Carol Folt, organizers released a statement Monday evening saying they were “deeply disappointed” that the University “claims ignorance” of its students’ divestment campaign, which had been ongoing through April.
General Counsel Beong-soo Kim and Vice President of Student Life Monique Allard, who were also in attendance, “did not come to the meeting with any actionable insights or concrete steps to address any of our demands,” the USC Divest from Death Coalition wrote.
“It is evident that Folt is ignorant of the voices and demands of students and faculty at USC,” the statement read.
APRIL 29, 2024 7:12 p.m.
Sasha Ryu, News Editor
In a statement to the Daily Trojan, President Carol Folt confirmed that she will meet again with organizers from the USC Divest from Death Coalition tomorrow. The statement comes shortly after Folt finished her first 90-minute talk this afternoon with student organizers and Jody Armour, the Roy P. Crocker professor at the Gould School of Law.
“The students said at the end they wouldn’t have considered this meeting a win from their perspective, and I can fully appreciate that,” Folt wrote. “I think we need to continue to have those conversations, and I’m pleased we all agree on that. We’ll go day by day.”
APRIL 29, 2024 6:52 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
USC will not mobilize the LAPD against the “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” protesters tonight, President Carol Folt told Annenberg Media in an interview after she met with negotiators at Tutor Campus Center.
APRIL 29, 2024 6:42 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
The University wrote in a statement Monday evening that it believes the union’s unfair labor practice charge is “without merit,” and that USC intends to “defend [its] position before the National Labor Relations Board.”
APRIL 29, 2024 6:38 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
There is now a barricade around Tommy Trojan. People are going around it anyway to take graduation photos, and a DPS officer stationed at the statue doesn’t seem to care.
(Jonathan Park / Daily Trojan)
APRIL 29, 2024 5:26 p.m.
Jonathan Park & Sasha Ryu, Daily Trojan
The graduate student workers’ union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the University for at least six alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act.
United Auto Workers Local 872 — the union that represents 3,000 of the University’s teaching assistants, research assistants, assistant lecturers and fellows — filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board Monday afternoon.
In a written statement to the Daily Trojan, the union condemned the University for “unlawfully arresting” at least five Local 872 union members for participating in the ongoing “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” protest at Alumni Park.
The statement also accuses the University of “demanding the end of employee research work that requires interaction with certain universities,” “unilaterally changing workplace policies by prohibiting pro-Palestine speech at the worksite,” and “unilaterally changing workplace policies by requiring employees to show identification at security checkpoints in order to enter the worksite.”
Hours before the announcement, members of the Local 872 union were protesting at President Carol Folt’s residence in Santa Monica, California, demanding the University drop all charges against all 93 protesters arrested last Wednesday, end its “militarization” of campus, and cut “its financial and academic ties to war profiteering.”
APRIL 29, 2024 3:34 p.m.
Eva Hartman & Jonathan Park, Daily Trojan
Negotiators from the Gaza Solidarity Occupation have agreed to an in-person meeting with President Carol Folt at 3:30 p.m., organizers announced via Instagram Monday afternoon.
“We will not be making any concessions, and refuse any normalization in our negotiations,” the post read. “Our occupation will continue until our demands are met!”
Organizers did not disclose where the meeting would take place.
APRIL 29, 2024 12:27 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
As we enter Day 6 of the Gaza Solidarity Occupation, it’s decidedly past the University’s deadline of Sunday for protesters to offer a “more reasonable response” to administrators, as they say they attempted to negotiate with students at Alumni Park. Organizers said they sent an email to administration on Saturday, listing their demands and requesting a meeting. When we last spoke to a University spokesperson, they did not have a progress update on the negotiations.
It was a tranquil morning so far at Alumni Park. A few students were sitting in a circle doing what appears to be yoga or breathing exercises. There are still about 20 tents, but an exact headcount of protesters can be difficult as students have been coming and going. Just nearby, people have been taking graduation photos with the Youth Triumphant Fountain, now cleaned of graffiti, in the background.
Throughout campus, signage posted by the University reminds those looking to attend commencement that tickets are required, and there will be a clear bag policy.
APRIL 28, 2024 9:41 p.m.
Nathan Elias, News Editor
Author C Pam Zhang and UCLA Professor Safiya Noble have withdrawn from speaking at the Rossier School of Education’s doctoral and master’s commencement ceremonies May 8 and 10, respectively.
The decision comes in protest of the University’s response to the “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” and for having “censored” Valedictorian Asna Tabassum by canceling her main stage commencement address, according to a joint statement published Sunday evening to the Literary Hub website.
APRIL 28, 2024 7:26 p.m.
Christina Chkarboul, Associate Managing Editor
DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle confirmed to the Daily Trojan that the University remains in charge of all security for the ongoing “Gaza Solidarity Occupation,” despite a rumor circulating on Instagram that the LAPD was taking over the task.
APRIL 28, 2024 6:11 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
An A-frame at USC Village placed at around 3 p.m. reminds community members of University policies on camping, amplified sound, event scheduling and noncompliance with policies.
USC “supports free expression,” the sign reads, but is also “responsible for providing an environment where students can safely study, learn, and thrive.”
“The university balances these priorities by exercising the right to reasonably regulate the time, place, and manner of expression that occurs on campus,” the sign reads.
(Jonathan Park / Daily Trojan)
APRIL 28, 2024 3:19 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
Responding to USC’s statement from Saturday night, the USC Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation denied members of the group organizing the protest were responsible for the vandalism of campus property, and said the University failed to mention that President Carol Folt had only proposed to meet with protesters on condition on dispersal.
“You are liars,” USC SCALE’s own statement began, posted to its Instagram early Sunday afternoon. “Your blatant misrepresentation of our occupation and of our interactions with your Administration not only puts us, YOUR students, at risk but also reveals that you in no way seek to hear your students and faculty or preserve our safety: You only act to protect your financial and academic ties to genocide.”
University administrators reached out to protesters three times, USC SCALE wrote, the first of which was a request to print out their demands for a representative of Folt, and only on condition of dispersal. The second and third attempts were both offers to meet with Folt on condition of dispersal.
“This meeting proposal would not have allowed us to negotiate or initiate in any form of dialogue with Folt or the USC Administration in relation to our demands,” USC SCALE wrote.USC SCALE denied that the person who vandalized campus property Saturday evening was “a member of our occupation,” and that the protest’s community guidelines do not allow for “desecration of the land.”
About an hour later, USC SCALE posted an email it said it sent to administrators on Saturday, restating its demands and requesting a meeting with the University.
“We understand that our occupation is disruptive and in violation of certain school policies, but the circumstances demand that we speak out,” the email read. “If we are not given the opportunity to meet with a member of the administration (as opposed to a liaison), we will consider as a demonstration of bad faith on your part.”
APRIL 28, 2024 11:28 a.m.
Jennifer Nehrer, News Assignments Editor
After a stricter lockdown Saturday night, campus is once again open to students, staff, faculty and registered guests, a 10:09 a.m. TrojansAlert read. Only two gates — McCarthy and McClintock — are open.
APRIL 27, 2024 11:54 p.m.
Elizabeth Kunz, Zachary Whalen, Jennifer Nehrer & Jonathan Park, Daily Trojan
In a statement to the Daily Trojan, Senior Vice President of Communications Joel Curran accused protesters of continuing to “illegally camp on our campus” and harassing students, in addition to condemning the vandalism of Tommy Trojan and Youth Triumphant Fountain.
President Carol Folt attempted to meet with organizers multiple times, Curran wrote, but they denied. Protesters will have until Sunday to have a more “reasonable response” before the University takes more drastic action, the statement read.
The Daily Trojan could not immediately confirm some of the details in the statement. When asked for specific examples of disrupted campus operations and of protesters harassing students, as well as further information on Folt’s apparent attempts to speak with protesters, a University spokesperson said they had no further information.
Organizers could not immediately be reached for comment.
APRIL 27, 2024 11:29 p.m.
Zachary Whalen, Breaking News Writer
Facilities Planning and Management is putting a tarp over the base of Tommy Trojan, covering the graffiti that had been spray-painted onto it earlier this evening.
APRIL 27, 2024 11:16 p.m.
Elizabeth Kunz, Breaking News Writer
A citywide tactical alert that the LAPD issued earlier tonight, citing unspecified “disturbances” on campus, has now been called off as of 11 p.m.
APRIL 27, 2024 10:33 p.m.
Nathan Elias, News Editor
In their largest mobilization since Wednesday, more than 60 LAPD vehicles line McClintock Avenue within USC’s gates as officers move toward Alumni Park with zip tie handcuffs and less-lethal launchers.
APRIL 27, 2024 9:27 p.m.
Zachary Whalen, Breaking News Writer
DPS is restricting entry to Leavey Library, though people inside are allowed to leave or stay until midnight. DPS could not confirm if Leavey will be open tomorrow.
Students with belongings left inside the building are video calling DPS officers via Instagram and guiding them to their bags, or gesturing to officers through the library windows to retrieve them.
APRIL 27, 2024 8:51 p.m.
Zachary Whalen, Breaking News Writer
Protesters at the Alumni Park encampment are bracing for a response from DPS and LAPD. A speaker encouraged protesters to not immediately disperse when given the order, but also gave instructions on what to do if they were not comfortable being arrested.
APRIL 27, 2024 8:28 p.m.
Sasha Ryu and Elizabeth Kunz, Daily Trojan
The University Park Campus will be temporary closed to everyone except residents “due to a disturbance,” USC announced via a TrojansAlert at 8:14 p.m. It is unclear how the University will enforce this policy. USC Village is still open to the public with DPS officers stationed outside entrances.
APRIL 27, 2024 8:13 p.m.
Sasha Ryu, News Section Editor
At least three LAPD vehicles were spotted driving through campus.
APRIL 27, 2024 7:30 p.m.
Sasha Ryu, News Section Editor
The Department of Public Safety has at least four cars lined up on the edge of campus. The cars arrived around 7 p.m. — about the same time the University sent out a Trojan Alert instructing students to stay away from center campus.
(Kate McQuarrie / Daily Trojan)
APRIL 27, 2024 6:20 p.m.
Sasha Ryu, News Section Editor
Protesters have spray painted “SAY NO TO GENOCID [sic]” on Tommy Trojan. Around the same time, protesters also wrote “FREE GAZA” and “STOLEN LAND” on the Youth Triumphant fountain in Alumni Park.
Students have continued taking their graduation photos in front of Tommy Trojan in spite of the vandalism.
(Zachary Whalen / Daily Trojan)
(Sasha Ryu / Daily Trojan)
APRIL 27, 2024 5:56 p.m.
Zachary Whalen, Breaking News Writer
Protestors have begun moving their tents from Founders Park back to Alumni Park, chanting “disclose, divest, we will not stop we will not rest,” and are hanging their signs from trees, which DPS said was in violation of University policy on Wednesday.
APRIL 27, 2024 2:01 p.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
Sergeant Frank Trevino was the DPS officer operating the vehicle that almost struck Annenberg Media reporter Aditya Thiyag, DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle confirmed to the Daily Trojan Saturday afternoon.
“There is no investigation at this time,” Carlisle said, noting there was no collision, and that he did see a person “strike the hood of the DPS vehicle with their hand as the officer drove off.”
Carlisle did not comment when asked for a response to concerns that the incident undermined the safety of the student journalists who are covering the protest.
APRIL 27, 2024 1:50 p.m.
Christina Chkarboul, Associate Managing Editor
In a letter addressed to President Carol Folt, Provost Andrew Guzman and senior USC administrators Saturday afternoon, the Undergraduate Student Government Executive Cabinet 2024-25 criticized the University’s “disproportionate response” to Wednesday’s ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment,’ where Los Angeles Police Department officers arrested 93 demonstrators.
“The display of unmerited aggression has eroded trust, diminished transparency, and restricted free expression, setting a concerning precedent on campus,” the letter read.
APRIL 27, 2024 11:57 a.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
The “no camping” policy cited in warnings against students is present on page 107 of the Student Handbook:
“Travis Scott campers were removed from the Bookstore when they were discovered there,” DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle told the Daily Trojan.
APRIL 27, 2024 2:13 a.m.
Jonathan Park, Digital Managing Editor
We’ve been posting more immediate updates from the ground on our Instagram Stories. Follow us @dailytrojan.
To summarize the past few hours:
DPS officers stopped by early this evening, warning protesters that 7 p.m. would be considered “after hours.” They did not offer specifics on what actions they would move to take after that time. They also refused to offer clarification to a reporter several times.
For 18 minutes after the apparent “after hours” deadline, student media and protesters watched as DPS and LAPD officers stood by, not moving and not preparing to move. Then, hopping back into their cars, they drove away down Trousdale Parkway.
At around 9:20 p.m., a DPS officer made another visit, announcing from their vehicle that the encampment protest was in violation of the University’s “no camping” policy. (The Daily Trojan has reached out to DPS for comment on where such a policy can be found, and why it was not enforced, for example, on the Travis Scott fans who stayed the night in front of the USC Bookstore waiting for the rapper’s appearance.) Then, in leaving the scene, the vehicle appeared to lunge forward and almost hit an Annenberg Media reporter.
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By 1:30 a.m., there was no police presence in the vicinity of the protests as demonstrators pitched about 20 tents at Founders Park, looking to settle in for the night. Sprinklers turned on at their usual intervals, but newly acquired Home Depot buckets seem to have solved that problem.
