Nearly 50 people were arrested after hundreds of anti-Israel protesters swarmed the campus of UC Irvine in California and set up barricades, the university confirmed Thursday.
The university said that the 47 individuals arrested were charged with trespassing or failing to disperse after a direct police order.
The booking process began on campus and those arrested were taken to the Orange County Jail, where booking and processing were completed. They were then released, university spokesperson Tom Vasich said.
UC Irvine confirmed later Thursday that of the 47 individuals arrested, 26 were students, 19 were non-affiliates, and two were employees.
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Police officers clear pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the campus stairs after students occupied the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall at the University of California, Irvine, in Irvine, California on May 15, 2025. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
The university moved to remote operations on Thursday.
A UC spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the campus erupted into chaos after several hundred protesters entered the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall on the California campus and began to barricade the building.
Chancellor Howard Gillman issued a statement late Wednesday saying he was planning to allow the peaceful encampment to remain on campus even though it violated university policies, but the school called in police after a small group barricaded themselves inside a campus lecture hall, supported by a large group of community members rallying outside.
Demonstrators gather as law enforcement officers are deployed to the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) after protesters against the war in Gaza surrounded the physical sciences lecture hall, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Irvine, California, U.S. May 15, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
He said the group transformed what had been a manageable situation into one that required police response and demanded to oversee many elements of university operations.
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“Most importantly, their assault on the academic freedom rights of our faculty and the free speech rights of faculty and students was appalling,” Gillman said in the statement.
Law enforcement from multiple agencies responded to UC Irvine after hundreds of protesters descended onto the California campus. (Fox News)
He said he remained committed to protecting the rights of all community members to express their views.
The arrests come after weeks of anti-Israel demonstrations across university campuses that disrupted operations. The Associated Press has recorded at least 80 incidents since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the U.S. More than 2,960 people have been arrested on the campuses of 60 colleges and universities.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.
