About 80 people were arrested during protests at UC Santa Cruz on May 30 and 31. (Izzy Harrison — Santa Cruz Local) 

UC SANTA CRUZ >> Police arrested scores of protesters at UC Santa Cruz after authorities started to dismantle a tent camp at the main campus entrance Thursday night. 

On every UC campus, pro-Palestinian students have started protest camps to try to pressure university leaders to divest from weapons manufacturers and call for Israel to end its war with Hamas. Several camps have been shut down by police action, while others have ended with deals between protesters and university leaders. The UC president’s office opposed divestment from Israel in April.

Police arrested about 80 protesters as of Friday afternoon, wrote Abby Butler, UCSC’s director of strategic communications. More than 3,000 people have been arrested on college campuses across the U.S. in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. 

In a public letter Friday, UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive wrote that university leaders requested police to remove the camp.

Protesters “have been given repeated, clear directions to address safety issues, cease camping and cease blocking access to numerous campus resources and to the campus itself. Early this morning, they were also given multiple warnings by law enforcement to leave the area and disband to avoid arrest,” Larive wrote.

Updates on accessibility to the UCSC campus is on the university’s website.

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