Image of a previous student encampment continues to occupy the area in front of Sproul Hall at the University of California Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California on May 2. An off-campus protest led to 12 arrests on Thursday. Photo by John G. Mabanglo/EPA-EFE
May 17 (UPI) -- Authorities arrested 12 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had occupied a vacant building near the University of California Berkeley campus. Campus police and officers from other law enforcement agencies made the arrests Thursday night and used force to remove others who were not arrested from Anna Head Hall, which is officially off campus but owned by the university. Advertisem*nt
The university said it believed up to 20 people had occupied the building before law enforcement either removed or arrested them.
University of California Vice Chancellor Dan Mougulof said potential charges could include trespassing, vandalism and destruction of property.
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"We are treating this as what it is, and it's a crime scene," he said.
Some protesters entered the building while squeezing through holes in the fencing surrounding the structure, but most demonstrators crowded a grass area outside to erect signs and spray paint slogans on the building.
The university said the building, which was barricaded after a fire years ago, remains unsafe.
No injuries were reported during the protests or the arrests.
The university said the group that occupied the building was different from protesters who erected encampments near Sproul Plaza on campus several weeks ago before they were taken down after an agreement between protesters and university officials.
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More than 19,000 University of California teaching assistants, researchers, tutors and other student workers represented by the United Auto Workers Union earlier this week approved plans for a strike over the university's response to the protests at its various campuses that could begin as early as Friday.
The union, Local 4811, authorized the strike on Thursday, accusing the university of "intimidation and retaliation" over their free speech rights.
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