Campus protests live: Police clear UCLA encampment and arrest Gaza demonstrators after refusing to disperse [Video]

Hundreds of police officers in riot gear dismantled a pro-Palestinian protest camp at the University of California at Los Angeles early on Thursday after it was attacked the previous night by pro-Israel supporters.

Officers muscled their way into a central plaza of the university on Wednesday evening before forcing their way into the anti-war encampment at around 3:15am, tearing down barricades and arresting occupants who refused to leave.

Live TV footage showed about six protesters under arrest, kneeling on the ground, their hands bound behind their backs with zip-ties as dozens of loud explosions were heard during the clash from flash-bang charges, or stun grenades, fired by police.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that “a group of instigators” perpetrated the …