LOS ANGELES—A group of pro-Palestinian protestors has set up an encampment in front of Los Angeles City Hall. The demonstration, which took place on Monday night, saw around 50 protestors with 20 tents aligned outside the building at Main and First Streets. The tent area was filled with Palestinian flags and slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Free Gaza.”
6:30 PM:
Pro-Palestine encampment going up on in downtown LA. pic.twitter.com/licrQ9kFNO [1]
— Film The Police LA (@FilmThePoliceLA) June 4, 2024 [2]
⚠️Traffic Advisory⚠️ There is a non-permitted demonstration occurring in the Civic Center portion of DTLA. Please use caution in the area due to people in the roadway. Please follow @LAPDHQ [3] for any other media updates.
— LAPD Central Division (@LAPDCentral) June 4, 2024 [4]
Monitoring the non-permitted demonstration, the Los Angeles Police Department stated that it was observing the situation and that civilians should watch out for others within the vicinity. However, no injuries or arrests occurred on the premises. As a safety measure, the police department did go on an area-wide tactical alert.
🚨#BREAKING [5]: A citywide tactical alert has been declared due to multiple pro-Palestine protesters setting up an encampment near LA City Hall ⁰⁰📌#Losangeles [6] | #California [7] ⁰⁰The Los Angeles Police Department has declared a citywide tactical alert due to numerous pro-Palestine… pic.twitter.com/TCxdpyExaC [8]
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) June 4, 2024 [9]
Prior to the summer break, over 3,000 individuals had been arrested on U.S. campuses, including protestors at the University of California in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Irvine.
The escalation of events came amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, originating from Hamas and other terrorists infiltrating southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostages back on October 7. As of now, Palestinian militants still have approximately 100 captives, while the ongoing Israeli bombardments and ground operations in Gaza have allegedly resulted in more than 36,000 Palestinian deaths, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.