LOS ANGELES, April 30 (Xinhua) -- A total of 35 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt early Tuesday morning, ending a week-long occupancy of buildings on campus of the university in Northern California.
The university announced on Friday that its campus will remain closed through the rest of the semester, originally set to end on May 10, due to the pro-Palestinian protests. Dozens of protesters took over Siemens Hall, an academic and administrative building, earlier last week, while an unknown number of students occupied another building on the campus.
"Law enforcement cleared and secured Siemens Hall and Nelson Hall East, as well as the area near those buildings. About 35 individuals were arrested, without incident," said the university in a statement on Tuesday morning, noting that "there were no injuries" amid the operation.
Those arrested faced a range of different charges depending on individual circumstances including unlawful assembly, vandalism, conspiracy, assault of police officers, and others. In addition, students could face discipline for conduct violations while any University employees arrested could face disciplinary action, according to the statement.
"This is a difficult day, it breaks my heart to see it, and truly nobody wanted to see things come to this." said Tom Jackson Jr., Cal Poly Humboldt President in the statement, and criticized what he called "serious criminal activity that crossed the line well beyond the level of a protest had put the campus at ongoing risk."
The university said its campus will remain under a hard closure through May 10 and those not authorized to be on campus may be cited or arrested.
Following the arrest of more than 100 student protesters earlier this month at Columbia University in New York, pro-Palestinian demonstrations are spreading at colleges and universities across the United States amid ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict in Gaza.
