Protesters clash with police outside of Pomona College graduation at Shrine Auditorium
Hundreds of protesters clashed with police outside of the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, where Pomona College held its relocated 2024 commencement ceremony.
Students, faculty and activists from universities throughout Southern California started to converge in the area at around 3:30 p.m. before the ceremony started at 6 p.m.
RELATED: Pomona College moves commencement ceremony to Shrine Auditorium
The graduation was relocated nearly 40 miles away from the main campus in Claremont after dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters refused to leave their encampment at the original site.
Shortly after the ceremony began, the group of demonstrators began to clash with Los Angeles Police Department officers in the area before being read a dispersal order for unlawful assembly.
During the scuffle, at least one officer was injured when he was allegedly punched in the head, according to police. They say that person was arrested.
University of Southern California's Department of Public Safety opted to close the school's campus as a result of the disturbance.
Late Sunday, Pomona College school officials issued a statement following the ceremony, which read:
"We were able to honor close to 400 graduates this evening with their loved ones joining them in a packed Commencement ceremony at the historic Shrine Auditorium. We appreciate the patience of the graduates and families with the shift this year."
Organizers said this is just the latest salvo in their ongoing push to get Pomona College to divest from all Israeli-tied companies and weapons manufacturers.
"By converging outside the Shrine Auditorium, student organizers aim to amplify their demands and expose the interconnected nature of their struggles, linking the fight for Palestinian liberation to broader struggles for social justice and the dismantling of oppressive systems," George Smith, a director from Pomona Divest from Apartheid, said in a statement early Sunday.
The statement from Smith continued with, "Their message will be impossible to ignore: complicity in the oppression of Palestinians will not be tolerated, and the fight for justice will continue to escalate."
The college's main commencement ceremony had been scheduled for Sunday on the Marston Quad at the main campus in Claremont, but is now set for 6 p.m. at the Shrine Auditorium near USC.
Individual college department graduations were held Saturday at various locations on the Pomona College campus to avoid the previously erected graduation stage and reception area where dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remain as part of an encampment.
Large banners reading "The people's campus for Palestine" and the Palestinian flag were seen Thursday still hanging from the commencement stage.
Protesters have vowed to remain in place and block graduation activities unless the college commits to divestment.
"Students are prepared to defend the encampment until their demands are met, and call upon the college to heed the overwhelming support for divestment in their community," said a statement from Pomona Divest from Apartheid.
Pomona College officials responded in a statement issued last Monday saying, in part, "Our students, faculty, staff and alumni hold a range of viewpoints. Throughout the year, college leaders have offered to meet with student protesters and will continue to do so. We will promote safety for all members of our community and pursue our educational mission, considering the full range of viewpoints."
Protest organizers said they refuse to meet with college officials until they agree to "preconditions," including disclosure of the college's Israel-related investments and full amnesty for negotiators and other protesters.
SkyCal flew over the site of the protest, where graduation ceremony attendees could be seen walking through the throngs of protesters who held signs and chanted with Los Angeles Police Department officers close by.
They said 19 students were arrested April 5 while taking part in a sit-in at the university president's office.
In a statement released after that action in early April, Starr said some activists at the sit-in refused to identify themselves and "proceeded to verbally harass staff, even using a sickening, anti-Black racial slur in addressing an administrator."
Starr said the occupation violated college policies, but "as we have expressed in the past, we work with students who are exercising their right to protest unless that protest impedes on the rights of others. In addition, we require all individuals on campus to identify themselves upon request by campus administrators or Campus Safety. This is imperative for the safety of our community, especially when these individuals are masked."
