Moment cops raid Portland State University’s library after it was taken over by anti-Israel protesters following another night of chaos on US college campuses

This is the moment police in Oregon retook the library of Portland State University, amid another night of new chaos on a college campus as authorities tried to destroy anti-Israel camps across the country.

The Millar Library at PSU had been occupied since Monday. During the cleanup, police arrested at least thirty activists.

Earlier at PSU, footage showed a student protester crashing into a police officer while holding a makeshift shield and being arrested.

The video shows two mask-clad protesters with shields made from trash cans running directly toward a police officer as people cheer in the background.

One of the protesters is then seen bumping into the official, but is ultimately knocked to the ground.

Elsewhere, in the early morning hours, helmeted police stormed a tent city set up at the University of California, Los Angeles, using flash bangs and riot gear to push through lines of protesters linking arms in a futile attempt to stop their advance.

Los Angeles police said on social media that 210 people were arrested at UCLA, and hundreds of arrests were made at other universities overnight and Thursday.

“I’m a student here,” a UCLA protester told the cameras as he was led away with his hands tied. ‘Please don’t let us down. Don’t let us down.’

Hours later, the student, who would only give his first name Ryan, was back on campus and vowed he wouldn’t stop fighting.

“We’ll be back,” said Ryan, who was cited for unlawful assembly. ‘We are going to disrupt. We will demand disinvestment.”

Students have gathered or set up tents at dozens of universities in recent days to protest Israel’s war on Gaza.

Protesters have called on President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel’s right to defend itself, to do more to stop the bloodshed in Gaza and demanded that schools be divested from companies that support the Israeli government.

Many of the schools, including Columbia University in New York City, have called in police to quell the protests.

Biden broke his silence Thursday on the demonstrations after the UCLA raid, saying Americans have the right to protest but should not unleash violence.

“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest,” he said at the White House. ‘It’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, closing campuses, forcibly canceling classes and graduations – none of this is peaceful protest.”

Biden, who is seeking re-election in November against Republican former President Donald Trump, has walked a careful line as he faces criticism from both the right and left over his Israel policy.

At UCLA, police repeatedly urged demonstrators to clear the protest zone, which covered a central plaza the size of a football field, before moving in.

Dozens of loud explosions were heard from stun grenades fired by police as protesters, some carrying makeshift shields and umbrellas, chanted “push them back” and flashed bright lights in the officers’ eyes.

Live TV footage showed officers tearing down tents and destroying makeshift barricades.

Some protesters were seen wearing hard hats, goggles and breathing masks ahead of the siege, a day after the university declared the camp illegal.

By morning, the square was littered with trash from the destroyed encampment: tents, blankets, food containers, a Palestinian flag, an upturned helmet. Police remained on site for the first half of the day as the area was cleared of debris.

In Portland, Oregon, police stormed the library of Portland State University on Thursday morning, where demonstrators had barricaded themselves since Monday. Several dozen protesters rushed out of the building and into a phalanx of officers in riot gear, who arrested them.

Police made further arrests at the library on Thursday evening as protesters attempted to retake the library. A university spokesperson said it was a “very fluid situation.”

In New Hampshire, police arrested about 100 protesters in separate incidents at Dartmouth University and the University of New Hampshire, breaking up encampments.

The protests follow the deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,200 people and took dozens hostage, and a subsequent Israeli offensive that killed about 34,000 people and sparked a humanitarian crisis.

The demonstrations on campus were met with counter-protesters who accused them of stoking anti-Jewish hatred. The pro-Palestinian side, including some Jews who oppose Israeli actions in Gaza, say they are being unfairly branded anti-Semitic for criticizing the Israeli government and expressing support for human rights.

UCLA had canceled classes for the day on Wednesday after a violent clash between the encampment’s residents and a group of masked counter-protesters who launched a surprise attack on the tent city late Tuesday night.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a written statement that officials had allowed the encampment to remain on campus for several days because it was initially peaceful, but that the clashes with the pro-Israel crowd clearly endangered students.

“It created unsafe conditions on our campus and damaged our ability to carry out our mission,” Block said of the encampment. “It had to end.”

Taylor Gee, a 30-year-old pro-Palestinian protester and law student at UCLA, said Thursday’s police operation felt “particularly hurtful” to many protesters, given the slow police response the night before.

“For them to come out the next night and remove us from the camp doesn’t make any sense, but it also makes all the sense in the world,” he said.

UCLA officials said the campus, with nearly 52,000 students, would remain closed except for limited activities on Thursday and Friday.