Pro-Palestinian student protests in the US are turning violent as clashes escalate on college campuses across the country.

In the latest incident, clashes broke out on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Wednesday between pro-Palestinian protesters and a group of counter-protesters, according to US media.

The student newspaperThe UCLA Daily Bruin reported that pro-Israel protesters pattempted to break up an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters on campus.

Videos posted on social media show clashes with protesters, firecrackers exploding near groups of protesters while other footage shows people tearing down metal barricades around the camp.

In particular, UCLA declared the pro-Palestinian encampment illegal for the first time on Tuesday night, with university authorities calling the police after clashes broke out. The Los Angeles Police Department said it was responding to a call for “multiple acts of violence within the large encampment.”

“There were horrific acts of violence on campus tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for assistance,” said Mary Osako, the university’s vice president.

“The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene,” he added. “We are sick of this senseless violence and it must end.”

Late Tuesday, New York City police arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters who had occupied an academic building on the Columbia University campus in New York.

In another incident, police officers arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters at the City College of New York in Harlem late Tuesday night.

More than 100 arrests by NYPD in Columbia

The New York police, the well-known NYPD, raided Columbia University’s Hamilton building yesterday evening, which had been occupied by pro-Palestinian students after the administration gave them an ultimatum to disperse.

The NYPD proceeded to arrest more than 100 protesters, who were wearing handcuffs and chanting “shame on you!” to the policemen who took them to the cages.

Police used flash flares.

Police also say they have evicted all protesters from the campus, including those who had set up camp for nearly two weeks on campus.

NYPD officers entered the occupied Hamilton Hall through a second-story window, using ladders.

The Columbia administration authorized the invasion after protesters defied a deadline to disperse.

The raid came just hours after the mayor of New York Eric Adams said the strike at Columbia, one of the Ivy League universities, “must end now.”

According to him, “professional external agitators” had infiltrated the protests.

“After learning overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and locked down, we had no other choice,” a university spokesperson said in a statement.

US universities have been engulfed in protests as students demand a boycott of companies and individuals with ties to Israel during the Gaza war.

US President Joe Biden said protests should be peaceful, but “violently occupying buildings is not peaceful, it’s wrong.”