Police amass on UCLA campus after protesters ordered to disperse

it had local leaders a gast at the images that we were bringing to to the public about what was going on people were being beaten and hurt people were being hit by projectiles something between 16 19 people were ended up being injured some of them taken to the hospital with fairly serious injuries tonight a different story tonight though the police have responded in force and the perception is is that they are going to do something with regard to the existence of that encampment on the campus of UCLA so that's where we find ourselves right now watching this all unfold police showing up a number of additional protesters showing up and our reporters uh both in the air and on the ground covering it for you live uh let's get back to Chris Christine air 7hd uh a different uh feeling than last night it there's not the violence here but there's certainly a sense of of something that that that may be happening yeah and to pick up on on a couple things there you know the uh there's a lot of common space in this quad where we had nobody last night now we see nooks and crannies where folks have gathered in the corners and on the edges of the quad and uh closer to the you can see barricades keeping them at Bay those are those have been placed there earlier today but then closer to the quad there is a lot more plywood as you were mentioning earlier in places where there was no plywood last night in fact walls of plywood where there weren't any even earlier today they've really expanded on the perimeter of their occupied Zone and this occupied Zone all right we uh there we go froze go ahead Chris uh yeah I'm sorry go ahead go ahead your your signal kind of uh glitched for us a little bit go ahead yeah I was just referencing all of this ply with this wall this makeshift wall that you were referencing referencing earlier is indeed all new they have been building that all day long and uh and now basically control more space than at any point during this encampment existence and so there has been really no Authority uh in that zone in that encampment Zone all of the officers that you see are on the outside of those plywood walls all right and uh I wonder if we can get something from uh uh our reporter Leanne sudor she was no we we some things were happening they had to move I think there were some people that were starting to harass our our crew there um but yes as we see here the we've got a skirmish line that seems to have uh gotten a little more dense more people have gotten involved in this looking at it over the hours as this evening has progressed it has gotten steadily larger the Skirmish line of police officers um and then you've got more people showing up although there are efforts now to keep those people out you've got cones there to keep cars from coming in and uh we don't know if anything is being done as far as crowd control from this end of the of the area which is uh kind of near the the the university flag pole uh and that would be off of Portola Plaza I believe uh where to to see what's what's happening in terms of keeping people out of the area from coming in so uh what looks like there somebody's getting interviewed uh and people are gathering around but definitely a lot more peaceful than it was last night yeah it's a relative term but uh you know it definitely is more calm will say that you know it was a little bit disconcerting earlier today to see the amount of uh equipment that was being brought in here literally in preparation for a conf that literally there was a sign they were each tent in the middle of the encampment is labeled with different supplies you have a PPE tent you have a helmet tent you have an umbrella tent you have G masks and then there's a a whole tent that said uh protection kits for tonight there was a whole sign of protection kits that people could come over and pick up to defend themselves tonight and even Shields that could be used in the case of confronting law enforcement so it may appear peaceful it's a it's a relative term but when you see the actions that they've been taking all day the preparations they've been making the purchases that have been brought in here and the taunting that has been going on uh on social media certainly words are not necessarily equal to violence but it has just been a very very very tense day here unlike the more festive almost party-like atmosphere in previous days Mark have you seen any indication of what what for the lack of a better term any offensive weapons offensive Weaponry clubs bats things like that it's one thing for somebody to put on a helmet something else for them to pick up a bat or a club uh have you seen anything like that haven't anything like that however it's real recalling last night the weapons that we did see were all pretty much shift at their disposal and the these folks have brought in lots of things that could certainly be turned into weapons not to presume but we haven't seen any actual weapons if you if you if you will uh overt weapons uh that we have been able to witness not something that we have actually witnessed uh not that the weapons would necessarily be in plain view if they did have weapons uh you would assume that those are concealed but no we have not seen anything that I would describe as a an outright weapon right and we're we're having a little glitch some some glitchiness with the the signal I'm hoping we can fix that uh in the meantime for those of you just kind of joining us and maybe you're not familiar with the geography of the UCLA campus maybe we could zoom out a little bit right now and we can kind of Orient ourselves as to what we're looking at here um we're looking now with Royce Hall to the to the north Royce Hall is on the left of our screen I believe and we're looking now to the east so in front of us are the larger kind of enclosure sort of tents that are on that form the eastern Edge go ahead I'm sorry we have we real quick we have Leanne sudor back uh we we've she's I guess re EST lished the location and is able to tell us more from her position Leanne go ahead yeah Mark we just moved farther away from the crowd I mean the energy was really starting to take a turn um they're starting to really Target a lot of the media within that crowd I'll move out of the way you can see how far back we are from the Quad area there uh we had moved farther to the east to try to paint a picture we are east of Royce Hall and east of the Quad we are along Dickerson Court here again heading to the east side of campus and we have seen a large group of these protesters kind of walking up and down Dickerson here we watched them at one point target a man with an Israeli flag and they kind of surrounded him as he was leaving uh we did not see any violence erupt between that between the the two sides there but they certainly were following him and then we watched them move back towards the encampment so they headed back West on Dickerson joined the larger crowd there and then just a couple of moments ago we saw again a huge crowd of the protesters suddenly head back east and kind of headed toward a number of the news Vans parked here along the street we saw them start to Circle one of the Vans we didn't see any damage from our vantage point or anything happened but they had started to surround uh some what appeared to be crews around that area finally gave up on that and moved back to to the West they have now all kind of started to gather together but I can tell you the energy out here is really tense um it's almost electric you can kind of feel that something uh is going to happen that they expect something to happen I kind of feel like in a way they're looking uh for something to happen everyone uh certainly on pins and needles wondering uh if the police are going to move in tonight and if so what is going to go down we've seen a large number of the people in the crowd they have on helmets whether they have on Hard Hats they brought their bike helmets I noticed that they seem to be prepared for something everyone also has on masks um we've seen a number of gas masks many of the surgical masks that everyone wore uh during the pandemic uh or they have their faces covered by scarves uh again it appears from our vantage point that they are prepared for something to happen uh and so we'll see if if that is the case later tonight if authorities do actually move in um we aren't seeing many people leaving just yet we in fact are starting to we still see people arriving but I think as time goes on I think we'll start to see uh more and more slowly start to leave the crowd here so hopefully it will start to dissipate hopefully more will leave before the police decide to move in if that is what they decide to do tonight if that is the case but uh I can just tell you the energy here uh is not good at this point it definitely feels like everyone is on edge and uh that usually does not end well when that is the case Mark uh yeah Leanne are you getting any indication or see anything uh of officers or anyone trying to keep people out of the area trying to turn people away yeah from our vantage point we have not seen that at all in fact we haven't seen any officers on the outskirts here all the officers that we saw were inside uh well within the encampment that we see kind of circling around as they make their moves you know uh from time to time to make sure the crowd sees them but we have not seen anyone set up on the outside or at the entrance here kind of to UCLA well will say though when we came in they do have some of the streets shut down and those were basically the uh parking enforcement officials uh they were stopping folks from driving in or at least attempting to earlier but I'm starting to see more and more cars coming in so I think people are starting to find ways around uh maybe the cones that were set set up on the roadway so we're still seeing people arriving uh coming into the area you know to see what they can find when they arrive here at UCLA I'm now from Air s they're excuse me walking on Porta Plaza heading towards kind of that Eastern edge of where the encampment is which I think is to the west of where you are now now that you have moved a little bit of further away uh so uh there are some people moving in any more signs from your end of of police or other agencies moving in yeah from our end we have not seen any additional officers arrive uh in the last I would say two hours for sure no additional officers uh the contingency I think that they have in place has been there for some time and we haven't seen any additional officers moving in uh since then thank you for that live report let's get more from Chris Christie we do see uh the elements of that the the counter protest uh that kind of uh that big uh that big screen I guess that had been set up with the Israeli Flags flanking it uh that had been uh broadcasting kind of a counter message to what the protesters in the encampment had been saying uh does it it it appears that screen is not is is it still working is it still being employed right now can you tell or is it is it stopped no I think you nailed it it's pretty much remnants from La last night from yesterday's uh counter protest they were using that screen and loudspeakers to uh basically taunt the other side um and this was the centerpiece for last night's activities at least where they started but as you remember they quickly moved up to the uh very edge of the encampment which is where a lot of those confrontations took place near those trees and right up against that walkway there where they started tossing fireworks into the crowd and started to take down the plywood and all of those umbrellas that you remember poking through there now you can see there's really no room they just have a solid wall I don't know how strong it is but they've been hammering away all day long we have had reporters down there on the ground witnessing and hearing all of the almost like a construction site feel earlier today building this wall and reinforcing this encampment now beyond the walls of this encampment if we tilt down a little bit Rob there are doorways that lead into these Halls uh the library I believe as well as Royce Hall where there are we have seen large groups of officers come out of both sides of the Quad right there where somebody is walking out right now there there have been large groups walking out almost as if in a drill like fashion March in formation and then they have moved back inside the buildings at some points when they see protesters and I'm talking outside of the encampment when they see protesters or supporters of the encampment get a little too close for comfort or get into areas where they don't want them or they get too close to other large groups they try and keep those groups separate as we've been talking about you'll see a a whole whole group of officers come out of their buildings with helmets on and basically almost in a warning like fashion approach the group and you see them marching in formation and typically what we've seen is those smaller groups of supporters basically run and Scatter and they kind of disperse and I think that's basically the intent of bringing some of these arrest teams out or some of these uh groups of officers out almost as a just or strictly as a show of force just to move people along keep people moving and kind of catch people off guard that's what we've been seeing all night long there's been a lot of false starts and a lot of false reports out there on social media about uh this is it it's getting started they're getting they're getting ready to go in there's officers coming out there's people running well it's all been kind of a distraction because you know for the main event if you will we anticipate if it happens tonight we anticipate that it is going going to require a much larger contingent of officers and they won't be campus police or LAPD officers we are expecting at some point a virtual Army of California Highway Patrol men to take over this area and so that's what we're on the lookout for my gut is that that group that we are talking about possibly in the hundreds are not even in the vicinity quite yet they're probably on the peripheral but not not directly near campus what I can show you though Mark and it's so interesting if we Pan the camera all the way o over down the 405 towards Wilshire Boulevard there is a staging area where a lot of these officers have come from and some of the officers who will participate in this operation have established uh again a staging area where there are hundreds I mean hundreds of Sheriff's Vehicles deputies you have CHP vehicles you do have LAPD over there you have you have models of Bearcats armored Bearcats that I hadn't even seen before it is a uh it is a uh an impressive show of force and a lot of equipment that they have brought to bear here if they are put in a position where they need to use it they have everything here at their disposal large command post Vehicles there has to be at least a dozen Sheriff's buses where arrestes will ultimately be placed in and there will be a booking area set up in one of these parking lots where they will start processing people one by one as they make arrest which is fully anticipated at this point that there will be a rest so they are equipped for all of that I know it's a little bit of a long shot our pilot Johnny doing ex doing an excellent job of bringing us over these buildings and you'll get a better glimpse a better sense of the scale here for just this one parking lot again just this one this is just a small fraction mark Mark a small fraction of the law enforcement that is in place tonight wow this is at the federal building which is at Wilshire and Veteran I believe right Wilshire Boulevard that's right and the 405 uh and there are the buses that we presume are there to bring arrestes uh to be booked if uh that is called for have we I don't think we've seen anybody being arrested tonight have we we have not as far as we know we have not in fact I don't think there's been any physical confrontation that we've reported today um it's all been you know relatively hands-off there have not been any arrests that we have seen but ever since we parted Ways last night the amount of law enforcement in this area has increased by the hour and we have seen it it was happening all morning long through the we hours of the morning into this afternoon and we have seen this contingent grow in a scale that I I just the closest thing I could even think of would be the George Floyd protests um just about well exactly four years ago um that was the kind of that's the kind of effort you see being put in here to counter whatever they are uh are faced with tonight and also uh I think we had a split screen a second ago and you could see from uh the position of our our crew on the ground you could see some officers some CHP officers actually walking toward uh the area and uh all right all right let's get uh Shayla gerarden I believe is still with us Shayla if I remember correctly you were kind of on the uh the south side of Dixon Plaza what's what's your location now yeah so right now we are set up just outside of that encampment um we actually are on an elevated space so you can look down behind me and see where these students are still set up they have been out here chanting and cheering all day but I don't know if you can tell right now we're hearing silence it it has gone quiet just over the past couple minutes uh right now there's just that sense that something is about to happen you can see we have uh California or excuse me LAPD out here highway patrol all waiting focusing their efforts on this area up on my right hand side that's where we're starting to see uh PD all focusing their attention there's been quite a lot of protesting a lot of chanting coming from over on this side earlier but it has all gone quiet for right now you can still see though all the crowds the protesters out there gathered in the distance uh the signage still being carried out there this evening uh but right now a lot of watching and waiting to see what exactly is going to happen next now moments ago we saw some movement coming from over there but again it looks like it's all stalled for the time being just trying to wait and see what is going to happen out here this evening who is going to make that first move but a lot of tension uh still in the air tonight all right and as we look at these officers in blue can we tell what agency they're from uh either by their badge or Insignia something like that uh whether they're LA Police or perhaps that looks like an LAPD badge right there a good camera work by your your camera person there I think those are LA police officers if I'm not mistaken and yes big shout out to our photographer uh yeah the officers in front of us are LAPD um and we've seen LAPD out here we've seen UCLA campus police as well so right now really a team effort between everyone to to organize this uh and to continue to get keep everything safe this evening uh we have seen some officers walking with a lot of zip ties your those plastic handcuffs uh that are that are on their on their waist are you seeing more of those among the officers that you're seeing from your position yeah we've seen quite a few of those as well um it definitely progressed over the course of the evening so I'd say around 90010 P p.m. we saw more and more of those LAPD officers arriving with those zip ties ready for those next steps ready to see what the evening would progress and then since then or excuse me what the evening would bring since then it's been a lot of watching and waiting they have been in uh lines now for several hours we've seen a couple shifts change but for now everyone is just holding steady right and uh the officers that appear have been kind of deploying from hannes Hall and Kaplan Hall which also flanked Dixon Plaza to the North and South uh going into and out of the area and showing force and then going back into the buildings as was described by Chris Christie there's a good look inside the uh the entry area of Royce Hall that iconic building that is kind of a landmark uh for the UCLA campus uh that has been taken over sealed by the Dem demonstrators here the pro Palestinian demonstrators uh the names of the groups involved the UC divest Coalition and students for justice in Palestine uh encampment so those are the the the names that have been uh bandied about in terms of uh who these agencies who these groups are uh the daily bruan has done a masterful job in reporting on this the young journalists future journalists who are uh doing just Yan's work out there covering this and giving us all information from inside the campus that is really helping us to cover this story with uh the the the abilities that that they bring to bear so you got CHP officers there on the left uh that are kind of in the front of this uh this Skirmish line they're the front lines of the Skirmish line I think there were four lines that I saw so in the front CHP and uh behind them you saw at least LA police officers and perhaps officers of the uh the UC the police who also wear that blue uniform Chris Christie what are you seeing from your Vantage Point in terms of the way and the amount of police deployment yeah the posture is staying just about the same everybody is pretty much respecting these Skirmish lines and those barricades uh the crowds outside of the encampment again as Shayla mentioned are are basically standing still they are essentially I I I I don't know how else to describe it it's like it's it's almost as if they were waiting for something to start waiting for a parade or a firework show or something festive it's it's reminiscent of a holiday uh the way people are sitting around waiting or standing still along the barricades waiting for somebody to come by or or float it's it's a it's a weird surreal kind of thing uh there's just not a whole lot of movement amongst this crowd on either side of the encampment within the encampment it's slightly different there's a lot more hustle and bustle people are are walking around uh putting the finishing touches on the wall they're bringing food in there's still food arriving here there's uh we've seen carts of food you see people bringing in pizzas uh they are literally still hammering uh parts of the wall together in certain corners of the wall uh they are Distributing equipment they are they are moving around and uh uh this is basically a self it's become a self-sufficient occupied Zone that they are in full control of and the authorities have zero control of uh you mentioned Royce Hall completely sealed off uh completely defaced uh vandalized to the to the extreme especially along the front steps and you can see uh a lot of folks camping out there on the steps and uh within the encampment there in between those tents where there are indeed hundreds of tents uh a lot of folks Milling about and there once again is Powell Library where occasionally we have seen individuals like that person right there in the white hoodie uh climb the scaffolding uh sometimes they're just taking pictures earlier this evening we witnessed uh two people climb the staircase climb the scaffolding and uh actually hang these pales Indian flags up um and it looks like they're uh a lot of people actually taking this opportunity to have a bite to eat as they uh wait for what's about to happen next uh it is interesting and and you do point out you know they've really fortified this and that makes it if the if the intent of law enforcement is to uh remove this encampment or at least get the people out of there tonight that makes it harder they've had all this time they've had 24 hours basically to uh add fortifications to it and make it harder to get in make it harder to uh uh uh get access onto it uh let okay where are we somebody's telling me in my ear we're seeing fire extinguishers inside yeah I was just going to say you know we were talking about weapons earlier no we haven't seen many overt weapons but take a look at there right there in the center of the screen uh are about a half a dozen fire extinguishers um you know what is the intent of those fire exting extinguishers well Common Sense tells us what they could be used for in a confrontation uh you know that that's just an example of the type of everyday tools that we don't think of as Weapons when we classify weapons uh in our in our every day uh you know verbage but uh a fire extinguisher is a great example of something that can be turned into a weapon very very quickly mhm and we did see them employed last night on both sides of that barricade so we will see what happens tonight it really depends on if you know what what the police decide to do what the intent is tonight and whether if there if the police move in to try to uh get everybody out of this encampment will they uh is is is that does that mean that these folks are going to resist if they're going to resist and and and how they will resist some resistance can be in the form of sitting down locking arms laying down going limp having to be carried out uh all the way up to acts of overt violence so we don't know and we will not know unless and until uh some sort of operation takes place here with regard to this encampment at UCLA um what how many tents would would you say there are Chris in in here I'd say we've been holding pretty steady at at least a couple of hundred I would say roughly 200 t0 total uh between this Courtyard and the one right across the walkway uh that's about half of the encampment the other half uh right there near the top of your screen I would say somewhere in the neighborhood neighborhood of 150 to 200 uh at least there and a lot of people uh cohabitating in those tents because there's many more people uh that have been uh occupying this area I would say roughly 400 people or so residing in this encampment uh in the last 24 hours uh you know just based on our observations last night and throughout the day today a lot of people moving around so it's difficult to get an accurate crowd count uh again three to 400 people there in the encampment uh to say nothing of the 1,500 at least maybe even 2500 outside supporters who have shown up on either side of the uh of the uh the quad and they're getting pretty well fed too if we could go back to what appears to be frankly a buffet line uh down there they've got a real uh system in place they have tables set up where people can walk through file through calmly and get a meal you see them doing it right here yep yep exactly I didn't even see this earlier and yeah it's very organized uh then the word of the day watching this encampment uh basically take on a new new form uh really has been organization it appears very organized very well planned out like somebody really thought it out they thought of all the things they're going to need to carry this out for an extended period of time all of the survival gear that they would need all of the uh everyday hi there's a whole tent a giant tent on one day and I'm not even going to bother finding it in this group of tents at night but there is a giant tent in the middle of this quad uh that is nothing but hygiene hygi hygiene supplies it literally says hygiene on the tent and they've got everything you could think of from uh you know toilet tissue and paper towels and all kinds of other household items um and you can see just uh how organized this has been both in the in the the living conditions as well as the defense mechanisms that they have used to basically you know fend off fend off law enforcement tonight the signs literally said protection for tonight they have all the PPE they could need they've got all the supplies that they needed to reinforce these walls and all day long I've got Clips I mean it's just incredible I've been posting them on online of of of supplies flowing in here in a conveyor belt style uh uh fashion where they are just you know taking P piles of wood and building this wall all day long it's been a dayong effort a dayong effort to nail these pallets and uh plywood boards together uh right along the barricade where that confrontation took place last night and now you can see it's basically all sealed off right there that's the east side of the wall but only this time they've added a whole another side to the wall which is much larger and look sturdier in scale uh on the opposite side as well that's the west side of the encampment so we'll see which direction law enforcement comes from I suspect they will come from all different directions it'll happen at a time of their choosing and it'll you know it'll it'll it'll be a surprise for everybody probably all right well hopefully uh nobody gets hurt that is the main thing involved in every uh operation of this of this sort and we still don't know frankly if one is going to take place maybe they're just here to keep the peace maybe this is an exercise we don't know for sure but it sure has the look of an operation that is intended to remove this encampment there's the medic tent as seen from from the ground so they do have a lot of of organizational skill that's being brought to bear these are uh University students so you can expect that they're uh pretty smart pretty well organized otherwise they wouldn't have made it into UCLA to begin with so they are using whatever skills they have and putting them to use in this encampment yeah worth worth pointing out it's a pretty pretty chilly down there uh it it's not a warm Night by any means so uh you can see some of the solar blankets that they brought out lots of people bundled up uh it is uh it is unseasonably cool uh as we uh heard uh the weather going into the weekend is going to stay pretty cool I guess and uh tonight's no exception it's pretty cool down there um and everybody is uh uh basically you could see them looking for forms of shelter or at least some kind of covering to stay warm you see a lot of that as they enjoy their meals a lot of people uh are using this opportunity to eat they have brought in loads of food it's almost like a craft Services Buffet like you said uh where they have people lined up and uh more food being brought in by the minute we've seen people just in the last hour bringing in all kinds of trays and pizzas and and everything else there you see the buffet line uh as they one you know wait in line one but look at that long line uh for this Buffet here all right Shayla gerarden are you still with us down there going to check in with our reporters on the ground how about lean sudo are you uh available I just heard a car door open Mark we're just uh watching the crowd from the outside here right so uh any changes from your position in terms of the energy or the scale of the [Music] crowd yeah well we have a what appeared to be a fight starting right here it's uh some members of the crowd breaking it up uh yeah we've seen you know little confrontations like that between people slowly people are starting to leave uh Chris had mentioned at the temperature it's pretty chilly down here uh lots of folks are bundled up but I think that temperature is going to start to have a play a factor in this I think at some point they're going to start to get tired and and leave and cold mhm and they will start to head out but uh it hasn't been a mass uh Exodus yet but slowly we're starting to see people trickling out just a handful at a time but we've also seen a couple of uh CHP officers headed in two groups of about six that headed into the crowd uh and then we saw them kind of turn and head around to the outside so we've seen some extra reinforcements uh show up uh just a handful of CHP officers as they start to get into place presumably as they decide what they're going to do tonight but uh again from from our vantage point on the east side of this far east side of everything that is happening we haven't seen anything violent terribly we've seen some confrontations a couple of minor fights or skirmishes but nothing uh terribly violent nothing like what we saw last night uh un that unfolded here on campus so it has been relatively peaceful but as I say the tension is palpable you the crowd is ready they uh know that or expect something will be started soon and they certainly are ready for it and I do believe anticipating something uh to come tonight we of course will have to wait and see if that actually is the case and and it's worth pointing out this was declared an unlawful assembly at about 6:15 tonight or now last night 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday and since then of course everybody who's still involved in that encampment is subject to arrest that's the point of the Declaration that gives police the legal authority to go in and make arrests clear the scene declaring declaring it unlawful means it falls outside of First Amendment protections of free speech and it is it is evolved into something that uh uh is not uh protected constitutionally because of the the what's has the determination that it is causing damage or or injury or danger to other people and that's make makes it unlawful uh so that was declared officially at 6:15 p.m. uh the LAPD went on a tactical a Citywide tactical alert uh sometime after that and that of course means that no officers uh once their shift is over they're staying on they they have to stay on they need the numbers they need the number of people to both handle this situation and police the city of Los Angeles so no uh nobody's going home uh and uh other officers may be brought in um and so that is that's kind of the the situ sitation here it's a major operation that is taking place here involving multiple agencies uh official Declaration of an unlawful assembly and a determination uh at some point about what will happen uh we will we will all kind of find this all out together uh Chris Christie as you see the Skirmish lines here uh in the front the front two lines are CHP and doubled Mark uh both lines well the the the the LAPD line has doubled in size and the C HP line from one line 10 minutes ago is now a double line uh is this an indication it seems like they are casual it doesn't all happen at once uh you know when you're mobilizing this kind of a force uh it's happening it seems like in stages uh it seems like we're getting closer to something here just by watching uh the Casual growth of these Skirmish lines here on the uh east side of the Quad again two full Skirmish lines of California highway patrolman and the LAPD lines have doubled if not tripled in force uh and there are a whole another group of officers they appear to certainly be uh University police officers um on the staircase to the left side of your screen right there you can see the blue shirts on that staircase they have come out we know that there are a large number of law enforcement Personnel both in that building as well as the one you see right here in that doorway right there I I I don't know how many there are but there are dozens and dozens and dozens of officers uh at one point a good bulk of them came out and went right back in some of them have come out since and actually formed this larger Skirmish line but I believe there are many more where that came from why is that important well if they don't come through those doors it's good that they've been able to get through that building because where else would they come from they would have to get through the mass of people on either side of the encampment you have about a thousand people on each side of the encampment on the east side and the West Side maybe a little bit less than a thousand on the west side at least a thousand on the east side uh but it's a it's a it's a sizeable crowd that would be difficult for you know a large group of officers to penetrate and so it seems like they've made entry into these other auxiliary buildings here uh to basically make their way ultimately into the quad they have also used some of these buildings as a lookout spot uh people have pointed out that there are Sharpshooters in place uh there are there are Sharpshooters are they here to sh shoot anybody no I mean they're looking for threats but probably more than anything else they are observing with their Scopes and assisting in the Recon for the watch commanders on the ground as this moves forward through the night but there are indeed officers and a variety of positions obviously positions that we would never give away from up here but I can tell you that they are all over the place keeping a close eye on things in the middle of the encampment and on the edges uh with a lot of Technology at their disposal it's a it is an elaborate effort and I think it is indicative of something about to happen as we continue to see this uh these Skirmish lines grow here and as the LAPD and other agencies prepare their the whatever T tactics are going to use uh one would assume they are keeping in mind the symbolism of the tactics that they employ uh they have all sorts of things that are at their disposal you you mentioned a bearcat that is available here uh and and certainly they they've got dogs they've got uh less than lethal rounds they've got officers on horse fact they have all sorts of things within their kind of Arsenal if you will that they could employ here but you have to keep in mind a these are students most of them and B they are at the moment not being violent not being threatening in any fashion and you don't want the the effort to remove this encampment to be so uh jarringly disruptive and for lack of a better term violent that it becomes uh a situ situation here where where people get hurt or injured unnecessarily and then the the whole response has to be uh examined and and really looked at in terms of whether or not it was appropriate so it's going to be we'll have to see whether it is a a measured response we remember we have an interim Chief we don't have a a permanent Chief it's Chief Choy he was appointed uh just recently by mayor bass uh and we are still waiting word on who the uh permanent chief of the LA Police Department will be this interim Chief has quite a job to determine how his officers will respond uh to this and in what way and what tactics to employ keeping in mind that these are college students for the most part and that they're not being violent you have to use a proportionate amount of force to to disperse this if if if at all possible no Force at all we'll see what ends up happening because that will depend in large part on how the students respond how the people who are demonstrating and and who are part of this encampment respond if and when police move in it's such a great point mark it's it's the Optics that are almost like it's almost like the Optics here are the elephant in the room it is the priority for everybody here to make this look as you know as tame as possible and as under control as possible and as methodical as possible without overusing the force or you know uh you know sending the wrong message when this goes worldwide tomorrow which it certainly will this is a this is a major International story here or domestic story at least that is going to be seen all over the world uh I know there were TV stations in Israel last night that were streaming our coverage last night during the protest uh it is it is that big of a deal and it is probably the Optics and the fear of certain Optics which have actually brought us to this point in the first place nobody wants it to you know everybody wants to allow this group of students and you obviously it's more than just students here we know that but everybody wants to allow for everybody to exercise their First Amendment right it's such a crucial part of our democracy and nowhere less than on a college campus um but when things grad to violence and you know a gathering like this becomes an unlawful assembly it's not a joke and it needs to be dealt with and you cannot just let Anarchy take hold like we started to see last night or has been the case at Columbia University just uh just last night uh it's a it's a it's a situ it's a balancing act it's a very delicate balancing act that law enforcement and politicians have to deal with these administrators have to deal with it and uh and it's it's it's it's a delicate Balancing Act and so whatever transpires here I suspect to your point will be a layered approach using the minimal amount of force possible unless they are forced to bring in additional resources but they have the resources at the ready it's nearby it's at their disposal they have tons of Technology tons of tools that they could use to take this uh to disperse this crowd and to eliminate the encampment they have the available resources to do it will the group participate and cooperate and go peacefully will they start to recede and go home will the crowds thin out as the night goes on and maybe that's when they take the opportunity to start you know giving people the opportunity to leave on their own accord and to what extent will they face resistance these are all open-ended questions um but the op are what are driving a lot of the decisions uh I mean Paramount is the safety of the officers as well as the safety of the protesters themselves but the Optics are the elephant in the room that uh are on everybody's mind indeed uh on our mind as well as we cover this and uh as we really just watch it all unfold along with everybody else and try to provide whatever context we can based on what we know of both the history of of of campus protests in in particular on this campus there was a a time during the 60s of course when the C campuses around the country were uh erupting in protests and demonstrations and siins and uh things similar to what we're seeing now for years on end during the Vietnam War beginning in the mid 60s and continuing into the early 70s uh UCLA no stranger to that there were there there's a a free speech area uh as I mentioned that's near the it's kind of on the western edge uh just past the western edge of this encampment it's it's an area called the Jance steps or the Jance uh um um Green Space I guess you'd call it where that was kind of the Free Speech area during the Free Speech movement of the late 60s and people gathered there there were concerts there different speakers came there Martin Luther King spoke there in 1965 there's a long history of disc of course political social uh and others that that has taken place on college campuses and UCLA is no stranger to that um the the the issue here has been uh in in many respects that this particular encampment there are allegations that students are not being allowed to get to their their uh their classrooms not being allowed to get to certain areas of campus and uh indications some of them coming out on social media that Jewish students in particular have been targeted uh by people either in these encampments or people who are are part of these demonstrations uh and not being allowed to move about the campus freely that has been one of the complaints that has been one of the issues that may have led to the confrontation that took place last night in which pro-israel supporters uh uh were involved in in hurling fireworks and and projectiles into the encampment and trying to tear it down themselves resulting in a lot of violence in a really explosive situation last night this is a conflict as we have said that has gone on for centuries and and historians have always you know had to Grapple with the high emotions and the tensions that are that are in the region and that have boiled over around the world as as people with the sympathies that lie on either side of this issue uh confront each other on places like this on college campuses and elsewhere and so we're seeing the result of that here and what is going to be happening here we expect is an effort to bring the tension down and remove the focal point that has led to an increase in tension uh it has led to Greater tensions here you you have right on social media you you've kind of been following this too right Chris in terms of social media you see people kind of different sides trolling each other in effect it it's it's so true it's something that I've never seen before even as recently as a few years ago during George Floyd it was happening but maybe to a different extent because of the rapid growth of live streaming uh where Tik Tok has really changed the nature of of of the demonstration on both sides and and and it's it's it's it's been used and exploited by both sides and uh and some would argue even the platforms themselves to be complicit but that's a whole another story for another day but they the platforms are being used as a communication tool even within the protest you know even here in a local protest and probably at the various universities across the country where you have people talking to each other and threatening each other via social media uh you know it it it borders on you know on on on on hate crime in in some cases but you know it's it's a new world where the threats come from different places and so does the dialogue and somewhere in the middle is you know there's there's certainly you know parts of the internet where you can have entirely productive conversation between two opposing sides there's no doubt about it but that same technology is being used in a variety a spectrum of ways that can contribute to you know real life tangible um act activism uh but that activism again in many cases can start off as a Free Speech First Amendment privilege and turn into something much darker more violent or restrictive or dangerous and it's that level of uh of of rhetoric that gets people hurt and that's why you got to bring an end to it that's what they would argue is that it's time this this this the size of this encampment has reached its its limits at least the limits that our politicians are comfortable with we have seen these same types of protests handled a dozen different ways in the last week and a dozen different places across the country depending on what jurisdiction you're in and uh depending on what University campus uh you're talking about it's a very different uh it's a very different um vibe in New York versus Florida versus Georgia versus Texas versus UCLA it is uh it is a you know part of what makes our our 50 state union unique and uh we are seeing uh we're seeing it play out in real time tonight yeah so far we have seen the buildup to that we have not seen any overt action taken by police um last night is it was a question of when are they going to show up tonight it's the question of well they've shown up what's going to happen what are they going to do and and I think that's kind of where we all are right now is watching all of this unfold is uh Leanne Suter uh still out there we are Mark we are just keeping an eye on the crowd from the uh outer edge here of uh of the protest and what's what's the vibe from your from your perspective at the moment yeah not much as Chang from our vantage point we happened to just see the same group of uh CHP officers walk in a short time ago they all just headed back out and left this area and moved to some other location apparently um we haven't seen much Chang from this vantage point of the protest at all actually uh we're as I say just seeing a trickle of people leaving uh the area here but the large majority of the crowd continues to stand around and wait waiting to see what's going to happen next and waiting to see uh what the police or what law enforcement may end up doing uh it really is just kind of a waiting game at this point for the crowd I'm I'm just I'm surprised so many are staying this long I am assuming that they're uh many of them decided they're going to be uh out here for the night it appears I mean cuz they really aren't leaving yet at this point and imagine if you're a student at UCLA who's uh in a dorm or in an apartment near campus with this drone of helicopters overhead uh loudspeaker announcements people chanting cheering yelling drumming uh making uh noise and music and you're just trying to study for your midterms I would imagine this has been disturbing now for a second night in a row really of this sort of uh blanket coverage it's got to be hard for them uh Chris Christie I wanted to uh uh I wanted to see if if you have seen whether or not uh the CHP helicopter is on station because they're the lead agency they have their own uh helicopters here yeah I I I was hesitant to mention it uh because I know that they uh were making their way in this area they were uh in Van eyes they had said down for fuel and uh have now arrived on scene uh they are not talking they are not uh giving anything away here but uh I can only presume that the arrival of that CHP helicopter may be indicative of something we uh we were expecting that as part of uh the Prelude to whatever is going to take place here and it it appears that uh yet another indication that we're getting closer to some sort of police action here as the arrival of that CHP helic opter is now uh very obvious to us as he flies through our shot very probably obvious to the folks down there on the ground who are monitoring the air traffic above them um but uh I think that along with uh uh the large law enforcement presence here and the large contingent of CHP officers that we are still looking for and anticipate seeing a lot more flashing lights coming from some direction I don't know where uh I look at that Santa Monica police out here so there are even other local jurisdictions besides LAPD uh but we are looking for California Highway Patrol we're expecting hundreds of them that is what we were told and uh I expect that at some point we'll see them make their way into the area here you see LA City fire standing by uh in case they are needed um but uh you're right the California highway vure helicopter now doing tight orbits uh around this campus looking closely at the encampment and uh it looks like there's some kind of signaling going on with those flashlights I don't know I don't know what's happening down there but all of a sudden you see more strobe lights in the middle of that encampment uh but whatever's going to happen may be closer to happening Mark uh that helicopter has about the same fuel capacity as our helicopter which is uh just over a couple hours so uh they're here and uh we'll see what happens next all right well um we as we watch this again for people just tuning in the the area of interest is Dixon Plaza which is this uh area this green space that is between the iconic Royce Hall of UCLA and the Powell Library uh Royce Hall to the north Powell Library to the s to the South uh to the West is the uh the Shapiro Fountain just to the west of the of the encampment that area now fortif ified around the outside of the fountain between the fountain and the Jan Jan steps that area now fortified with plywood uh that wasn't there last night and on the east side of course is the area that was the focus of so much activity and in fact violence last night is uh the area just on the East uh between those two buildings Royce Hall and Powell Library just to the east uh is uh the the the Eastern edge of it just between between uh Royce Hall and hannes Hall and between Powell Library and Kaplan Hall uh and you see the Skirmish line with two lines of Highway Patrol officers and two lines of at least one one involving LAPD and perhaps both being LAPD officers in in blue uniforms uh four Skirmish lines at my last count that are in that area between uh the the Eastern edge of the uh encampment and the uh university flag pole so that's kind of a that'll give you a sense of of what we're talking about and down within that area is of course this encampment has been the focus of so much attention and last night was the focus of Violence by outside demonstrators who were trying to tear it down um and so now the focus is going to be on what's going to happen in terms of the law enforcement response we have been told uh it's been hinted and and even overtly stated that there that something is is very very likely to happen tonight with regard to the future of that encampment and what are we zooming what we're looking at here to the right is the staging area this is the federal building on Wilshire Boulevard and a huge uh uh show of force or a huge contingent of law enforcement Vehicles there those officers being brought on station the buses you see off to the top are LA County uh uh Sheriff's Department buses many of them those normally during the day are used to transport prisoners from jail to court and back uh tonight it is they've been brought here perhaps in anticipation of transporting people who have been arrested transporting them to be booked but again uh all indications are this show of force is not for nothing this is this there's a purpose to this there's a reason for this and we're we're going to find out the reason fairly shortly Chris Christie yeah Mark I'm wondering if we still have contact with either of our ground Crews um being told that the helicopter has or maybe about to make a dispersal order PA announcement from the helicopter I'm just curious obviously we wouldn't hear that from air7 but I am curious if that has happened that may be again more indication that uh the final steps are being taken to disperse peacefully here but I am being told that the helicopter may be about to if they haven't already uh make an announcement I'm not sure if we're in touch with Leanne or Shayla uh well apparently Le Leanne uh we're told has not heard any sort of dispersal order uh from her Vantage Point um and Shayla is not uh not available at the moment so we don't think that she has heard anything either but we will check back with them as needed that is kind of the final step isn't it before police move in they make a final order saying you've got a certain amount of time to to leave please leave now and if you don't you are subject to arrest yeah it certainly is Mark as as we kind of scan the campus we're just basically looking for any sign of law enforcement uh vehicles that may have uh gotten closer to the uh the the area we're talking about here um it does appear that that uh those Skirmish lines are holding strong uh they have definitely grown over the last hour but they are holding strong and it does appear that we're getting closer to something it just seems like uh well who knows where these officers are ultimately going to be coming from it just uh really anybody's guess we know I can expect at least a group coming from those uh those other two halls on this side of the encampment but uh I I I just from all indications that we've gotten we expect a whole lot more California Highway Patrol officers where the these gentlemen have came from and uh we just don't see them yet difficult to see is probably a good reason why they decided to do this at night uh or in the overnight hours uh but the darkness uh definitely uh definitely helps them right uh you know I'm getting an email from our assignment desk apparently uh um let's see here something involving pizzas being delivered not too long ago and those pizzas being delivered to the uh police officers that are in uh and it's one of the Halls that's flanking it it's either Haynes hall or Kaplan Hall that uh food was being brought into to them so perhaps uh depending on when that happened maybe uh was about 12 12:30 uh was when it was filed on uh on X So based on that maybe they're not moving in anytime soon because is uh if they're going to be eating first maybe that's not the plan we'll have to find out yeah I mentioned the strobes earlier uh one thing that we are also seeing speaking of strobes uh Rob if you tilt down uh just a little bit towards the Skirmish line there has been a consistent strobe coming from that tent right there uh for the last couple of hours and essentially uh they've been taking turns between pointing those flashlights in our Direction which I I must admit at some times is slightly blinding uh but they're also pointing it directly at the uh eyes of those CHP officers in those Skirmish lines they've been doing it for the better part of the last couple of hours a clear intent to taunt those officers uh it's been going on for a while it's annoying and they know it's annoying and they're doing it on purpose obviously with uh full intention of uh of uh of again taunting those officers but that strobe is continuing uh at least for the better part of the last two hours now all right that is worth noting that is one of the things you talked about not you know anything can be weaponized and anything can be used as a an act of of resistance and if they are using strobe lights to uh affect the night vision of the officers out there that is one um one thing that they uh may have been may have decided to employ you're seeing some movement here among people in the encampment there there's been some Milling about pretty much all evening but uh some folks with the the uh the helmets that are pretty much ubiquitous now among people who are are within the encampment bike helmets hard hats things like that a lot of folks wearing those especially the people kind of at the front right there by the barricade they're they seem to all have helmets on so you're right they are bracing for something I what's what's interesting too you've got the kind of the the the the kind of the security guys the the folks with the yellow jackets you know who I'm talking about that are kind of right there on the barricade so they're there they're looking pretty casual they don't look as if something is about to happen they're just kind of you know I don't get a sense from the body language that I'm seeing from them that they anticipate something is imminent uh I don't imagine that once things start to happen that the police are going to want to have them in between police and the demonstrators so maybe maybe that's something we look to as as as as an indicator perhaps that things are getting close if they are suddenly gone or or are are ushered away maybe that would be a clue as to whether something is imminent I'm being told marked that apparently Shayla is reporting that indeed they have now given an additional an additional dispersal order via the loudspeaker down there uh it's been happening occasionally throughout the night so it's been uh it's been on goinging since about 6:15 as you mentioned but another dispersal order was just indeed uh given uh just a few seconds ago so uh just kind of reading the tea leaves here we are seeing more activity and now yet another dispersal order as uh the clock ticks on here and that CHP helicopter continues those orbits you mentioned that group that was walking along the right side of the encampment there down that walkway they were all wearing helmets and they've all kind of of filtered their way through the front of the line they're basically hanging right behind the the wall and right behind the first row of tents you could see them a lot of white helmets and yellow helmets almost everybody on that front I would say the front 10 feet behind that wall is uh is wearing a helmet interesting all right well it does appear that uh at least on that side of the barricade people are getting ready they are they don't they don't know when uh the the effort might come to dislodge them but they are preparing for what appears to be that eventuality they've got helmets they're using the strobes again I see them aiming right at you uh with that with that light uh they're using the strobes to try to disrupt the night vision of the uh the officers you got the CHP uh helicopter there that is making as you said tight orbits over the scene uh a huge police presence in and near UCLA along with LA City fire uh in anticipation we suppose of any sort of medical emergencies that might take place um and so now everybody is just kind of waiting and watching to see what might happen yeah I'm I'm actually watching that police helicopter that California Highway Patrol helicopter almost look as he as if he might be departing the area I'm just trying to scope it out maybe he's actually just making a very wide orbit actually uh it looked like he was moving away he's all the way over the 405 almost now uh but still basically uh still basically in an orbit pattern around the campus so I'm not sure not sure uh you know what that's about or uh if he's if he's going anywhere but just kind of reading the tea leaves here just looking for any indication uh or any activity whatsoever because for the most part it's been static otherwise other than the occasional movement of groups of protesters or uh groups of officers in One Direction or the other uh the uh this it's almost taking on more of a standoff here with those guys behind the wall but other than that uh I mean you know other than that it's it's been pretty uh pretty uh you know static here all right uh Shayla uh gerarden who we thought had left but apparently hasn't said indicated to our assignment desk that she heard the dis the dispersal order that was just uh that was just made uh I don't know if Shayla you can hear me uh are you available to speak we don't have her all right uh because I'd love to have more detail about the contents of that dispersal order whether there was a time limit given whether there was uh an indication that anybody there is subject to immediate arrest uh or anything like that I'd like to find that out if possible um I don't know if somebody from our assignment desk can reach Shayla Andor her crew or if somebody else who's who's involved in this can let me let us know about that because we' like to pass that along to uh to our viewers if a dispersal order was given was there a time limit and uh what what would that time limit be there's a drone there's a drone right there yeah we've seen a handful of drones being used uh presumably by law enforcement but I can't confirm that it's entirely possible that uh somebody in the group is controlling a drone it's it's it's uh impossible for us to tell uh but it it certainly is possible to be coming from either law enforcement or the protesters I've actually uh seen chatter about that online as well so I I can't rule out that there are individuals in that encampment with drones uh it's information that I can't confirm but is uh has been uh conveyed to me if you will uh by uh by some folks on social media so you could see that group of CHP officers by the way both the officers in this shot here and the LAPD officers behind them they've been standing there for some time now and I I I don't even recall the last time we've seen them get swapped out but essentially the Skirmish lines uh to some extent or another they've grown in the last hour but the minimal Skirmish line has been been in place for about the last 5 hours and I just I can't imagine uh what it's like for these officers to be standing there uh for so long I mean this is really uh dragging on I'm sure at some point uh when we weren't looking that they are swapping these officers out it would be uh you know uh highly unusual if they didn't but uh this Skirmish line has been in existence in some form or fashion for hours now yeah and you're right to just stand there that's in many respects it's harder to stand for 3 hours than it is to walk for 3 hours yeah like absolutely so yeah this is it's tough Duty it's not easy and and crowd control is a very difficult thing you there's a lot of emotions involved the the officers have to keep their emotions in check uh yet they have to deal with people who may be deliberately taunting them maybe deliberately trying to provoke them into some sort of action that they can then use against them um and and and also go about doing their job which is to remove the people that that are supposed to be removed there's that CHP helicopter again um as we have been reporting an additional dispersal order has been given just in the last few minutes the first one the the Declaration of an unlawful assembly was given at 6:15 last night and this is an additional order that has just been given which is an indicator that perhaps uh the time is getting short uh before some sort of action is taken yeah still uh still looking for any kind of movement I'm I'm I'm my eyes are peeled uh all of ours are we're looking within that encampment and around the campus for any sign of movement and uh we're just not quite seeing it just yet it seems like even the activity within the encampment has simmered down a little bit uh let's go ahead and push in a little bit Rob and see if uh uh looks like people are still walking around I mean the food line has shortened I think slightly uh but folks are kind of concentrated in the middle uh especially the ones without helmets uh but I me even the ones in the middle there are fair men of helmets throughout the crowd here um but everybody's just kind of standing around Milling around aimlessly sort of I mean it's it's organized but I mean they they seem to be losing their patience a little bit too they're just kind of you know hanging out hanging out on a on a on a Wednesday night yep could it be it could be a very momentous Wednesday night for everyone involved in this hopefully it ends peacefully hopefully whatever happens uh is peaceful and that nobody gets hurt and everybody ends up going where they're supposed to go at the end of the evening without any problems so that is that's the the effort that will be made by everyone involved in terms of the uh police law enforcement a agencies and and uh presumably the folks who are in the encampment as well as well nobody wants to get hurt nobody wants to uh uh end up someplace where they don't want to be so we'll see it all play out uh are there any sort of last minute sorts of preparations you see people still fortifying the walls are they still doing that sort of work out there let's take a look as recently as about an hour ago I did see see somebody still look at that there is somebody actually uh working on the wall right there in the corner uh not sure if he's trying to just look over it and kind of get a lay of the land on the other side of the wall or uh if he's actually securing it but you can see some folks several folks actually yeah looks like they're just trying to climb and peer over the wall to get a glimpse of uh of what activity is uh taking place on the other side so they've built the wall around metal barricades and then about 10 ft in front of the wall is an additional line of metal barricades uh I guess at some point the officers that eventually move in here will actually have to cross that line of barricades uh so they'll probably come along the side I would imagine and start to fill in that Gap if they're going to start forcibly removing the plywood um it's a large encampment I I can't understate how much this encampment has grown over the last week and it's a sizable amount of property uh tough to put an accurate actually let's go ahead and use our our uh our measuring tool here we can actually give you a pretty good idea of how wide this area is about 200 ft from uh from building to building and then if we measure it long ways it's probably at least a football field uh from east to west I would imagine so essentially we're looking at it yeah about 300 feet so about a football field is what we're talking about here Mark right and uh more on that dispersal order reporting from the UCLA daily bruan uh has put out a a tweet or an x uh and it says another dispersal notice from authorities near the encampment could be heard across the lawn of Dixon Plaza which urged protesters to exit via the pathway between Royce Hall and Kaplan Hall you risk Serious injury an officer said through a microphone again that quote you risk Serious injury um between Royce Hall and C Hall um if they want to exit that pathway I see there is a pathway that leads down towards pora Plaza and then ultimately can continue past the physics building and the ptoa plaza building and out of the area um but that's a pretty serious warning uh from an officer this according to the UCLA daily Bruin which as we have been reporting does uh has done really good work here in in reporting on and capturing the events that are happening on their campus so that was uh dis dispersal order that we heard just a couple of minutes ago and this information coming to us at about 12:49 a.m. and that may very well be what's prompted uh the uh the helmets suddenly in the last few minutes uh again that group there a better view here actually as WE peer under those tents from behind you can see them taking cover under the tents but uh those seem to be the most uh the most I want to say the most male oriented from what we could tell and the the most able-bodied fit uh people in this encampment who are kind of at the front lines they've taken up position if you will in those helmets along the front line there right behind that plywood wall that's on the Eastern edge of Dixon Plaza that's right uh and these are the people who uh are are Manning that plywood wall on the other side of that plywood wall are the Skirmish lines of the highway patrol officers and the police officers just behind them four Skirmish lines um we see the what we're seeing is they they've got their riot gear on their masks uh their their their plastic Shields are up they're not down over their faces that would be another thing to look at look for if all of a sudden you see the masks coming down that means something's about to happen that's right uh and I think it it's fairly obvious at this point you know again I keep speaking of this large group of officers that we're expecting to see uh and I again where they come from again it there's limited options here but the officers that you see in that Skirmish line are far far far far far outnumbered so these would likely not be the initial group to you know move forward on this encampment I imagine that Skirmish line will just act as just that a skirmish line that nobody tries to cross during the actual operation when we presume that California Highway Patrol will actually make entry into that encampment again how they do that will be methodical but I think it'll be something of a surprise for everybody including us in terms of the method to their uh their operation right and as you point out you know they're not only are they outnumbered but the heaviest fortification is directly in front of them they've got the plywood that has now been nailed down they've got two metal barricades and people in uh in those tents with helmets on and who knows what else and so to go directly up against that um would seem to be not necessarily the safest and most effective tactic uh so we will it will be interesting to see how this is done from what direction it is done and with how many officers it is done and what sorts of tactics they employ again as we talked about earlier it's about the Optics too are they going to go in with with clubs are they going to go in with you know any of the other things that they have available to them how are they going to do this and and how they do it will be documented and it will be discussed and and and be the topic of discussion and investigation and and study for a very long time uh the LAPD in particular has had a lot of uh situations involving crowd control that have gone not so well and there have been many instances over the years where they have had to revise their tactics and admit to some problems with their tactics and this the tactics that they employ and there have been revisions over the years there are uh uh changes in police procedures based on situations just like this when they were either too heavy-handed or in some instances not uh forceful enough it is a delicate balance that they have have to walk and you can bet that after this is done there will be study by all the agencies involved about how they could have done this better how they could have been more effective even if it goes very very well there are going to be some things that they they're going to want to look at and see how well they are done and uh the best possible outcome is if nobody gets hurt everybody uh gets their first amendment rights respected and uh and then that's that um we'll you know we're all waiting to see whether that happens and the dispersal order go ahead Chris yeah yeah one one of the tools that uh that comes to mind since we have uh since we have some free time to to speculate at least a little bit uh you know we learned about the distraction uh detonators that were used in Columbia University last night very similar to a flashbang but completely harmless as far as I know uh but definitely effective in terms of force dispersing a crowd without injuring anybody it certainly seems like one of the tools I would imagine we might see being tossed into the crowd or into maybe some of the open areas within the crowd to kind of divert attention away from where the Law Enforcement wants their attention diverted too so I you know there's it's tools like that that I can imagine in my head that would come in very handy in a situation like this as they try and penetrate uh that plywood and try and penetrate that wall again this is a group on the other side of that wall That's equipped with not just helmets they've got gas masks and all kinds of defensive equipment uh to deal with tear gas and other SS of other sorts of ir irritants uh but uh a distraction device is very effective and we've seen it just this week in other locations uh be used in similar situations that may very well be played out here we have some new video that has come into our Newsroom that was shot by someone who was within the encampment let's see if we can roll that and get a sense of what it looks like inside and what officers potentially could be facing what you're seeing here I don't know if you can see it on your screen there in air s but the the barricade that is set up outside Royce Hall they've got these huge planks that have been used to barricade the doors you've got people there you see the riot gear that they have on that looks pretty much like the same sort of Riot helmet that police have this is a person here that's that's got the riot gear on you see other people helping to fortify that Plywood And I'm not sure exactly what the bungee cords are for but that is apparently part of this that's meant to slow down somebody who's trying to get in I presume it's not exactly a hard fast sort of a thing but it uh may be effective uh demonstrators and people who are involved in this sort of thing they have they learn things too after after after action um and this is video from earlier in the day of police officers showing in showing up in force with their riot gear as they prepare to do whatever is going to be happening here uh this is more video from Royce Hall uh anybody who's visited UCLA you likely may have walked down this very hallway and uh some of the bike helmets that they have they've got umbrellas uh other equipment that they have I'm just kind of watching this along with all of you to kind of see what what sorts of things are are are going on inside inside the encampment uh and Shayla gerarden joining us now as we look at more of this video a good large siiz contingent of LA police officers here that uh this was obviously shot before Sundown uh and uh just another indication of all the supplies that have been brought in look at all this water they've got water we saw the the kind of a buffet line over there uh a shield with the UCLA logo I've never seen that before and here's an indication we were talking too about the um the organization that was the medical tent you saw people suiting up preparing to take care of of people if they were perhaps in need of Medical Care Shayla gerarden uh you are with us now you heard the dispersal order is that correct yeah campus police coming in over the loudspeakers we've heard them now at least twice giving that dispersal order telling the crowd that protest is unlawful they need to leave also telling them where the nearest exit was and saying they could be arrested if they do not leave quickly as for now all they've been greeted with or the only response they've had to that dispersal order is the crowd cheering and saying that they were going to stay put I don't know if you guys can hear the chanting uh the shouting behind me but this crowd has made absolutely no move to leave even after hearing that dispersal Mark uh several times and uh did the the daily Bruin reported that people the one officer said you risk Serious injury did you hear those words I did not hear those words no but I have also heard uh other people out here saying they heard something similar it's very loud out here especially with the helicopters flying overhead the chants the cheering so when those dispersal orders come on again we've heard them at least twice it's really hard to catch the whole thing from where we're standing mhm and in terms of the exit area they said they said to go between uh uh between Royce Hall and Kaplan Hall I think that's pretty close to your position Kaplan Hall should be directly in front of you based on what I can tell um yeah what's what's that noise we're here very close to where we are standing and a lot of shouting happening behind us right now um but yes they were very clear I want to go ahead and show you guys since we are getting quite a bit of action from where we are standing you can see uh CHP LAPD all out here uh in several lines this evening forming new lines as those protests those shouts continue to grow and they have continued to stand here even when we heard those dispersal orders given multiple times uh campus police coming over the loudspeaker like we mentioned and giving very specific orders saying that everyone out here needs to to disperse this protest is unlawful and giving those specific instructions on where they needed to exit and like you mentioned Mark very close to where we are standing and as you can see that crowd out here has made no movement no effort to leave and uh by the looks of it not planning to leave anytime soon mhm and so yeah you're standing right along where the exit route would be between uh between Royce Hall and and Kaplan Hall uh just heading south there so they would be presumably if they were going to leave they'd be walking right past you and nobody it appears has done that no quite the opposite everyone uh coming back and saying that they have no plans to leave that they will not be dispersing that they will not be going in fact uh quite the opposite we've he cheers we've heard chanting we've heard shouting every time campus police have come on over those loudspeakers and you can even hear those chants those shouts continuing out here this evening what are they saying in the chanting and the shouting can you make it out it's hard to make it out uh so we've heard you know a lot of the same chance uh the same rhetoric this evening but what exactly they're screaming right now it's been really hard to tell for about the last hour or two I would say sometimes we we thought something was happening that someone was moving that py was moving in the the the shouts the chants would really come out of nowhere but then just as quickly as they start they often die out again all right and so uh we're seeing the strobes again the officers behind you their Shields are noticeably up that means that if as far as they're concerned no action is imminent from their perspective from their position because if they were their Shields would be down over their faces that's a basic kind of assumption that I have uh based on on demonstrations that we have seen here over the years uh Leanne sudor are you uh are you out there we are Mark we are still uh on the outskirts of the crowd here watching what's happening we've uh it it's shrunk a little very little uh it's not as large as it was earlier this evening but having said that it is still a very large crowd that is here on the outside as Shayla said uh on the inside folks really aren't leaving they are sticking around and uh waiting to see what happens we've been seeing the strobes going on and off we hear them chanting every once in a while we'll hear an uproar and some cheering and there'd be some slight movement the crowd shifting ever so slightly but no massive movement like no sudden movements as if they were moving out of the way or leaving the area uh for the most part it's really just been a holding pattern for everyone all standing around watching waiting to see what was going to happen next um we really haven't seen that change in all these hours that we've been out here tonight uh everyone just gathered together together continuing with their cheering and uh waiting to see what happens we keep seeing all the strobes you can see that I know you guys have seeing that all night um the flashlights that they're using to kind of flash across the crowd uh I don't know you know what that means or what that has to do with anything but we certainly have seen that going on for some time within the crowd here but on our end here on the east side of it uh which which would be again east of Royce and the quad here it uh not much has changed the crowd just uh hanging tough here waiting to see what happens with law enforcement all right and as we watch those strobes and the uh the security folks Manning the the barricade there and the people behind the plywood with their helmets and with their masks and their strobe lights uh air7 is taking a minute to uh get back to base to refuel and we're going to take this moment to regroup and we will uh be streaming our helicopter live once we get back on station for now though we're going to take a break as we uh continue to keep an eye on the situation on the campus at UCLA where an a demonstration an encampment that has sprung up calling for a ceasefire in the Hamas War calling for a uh divestiture of UCLA uh funding from businesses that do business with Israel and with Israel's military while we are watching that unfold C and the effort to perhaps dislodge it tonight we're going to take that break and we will continue to update you as events Warren until then I'm Mark Brown ABC7 Eyewitness News we thank you for watching and we'll see you later on

Channel: ABC7

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Keywords: news, eyewitness news, abc7 los angeles

Id: U37hA_jMJFg

Length: 90min 13sec (5413 seconds)

Published: Thu May 02 2024