Riot Gear Police Squash UCLA Protests, Detain Multiple People

Cops in riot gear descended onto the University of California, Los Angeles campus, breaking up a pro-Palestinian encampment and detaining multiple people.

California Highway Patrol officers made their move at UCLA early Thursday morning, busting through barricades to dismantle a wooden wall erected by activists protesting the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Some of the activists fought back, spraying officers with fire extinguishers while refusing to leave the UCLA grounds -- even after police had spent hours ordering them to disperse over a loudspeaker.

Since Tuesday, the two sides had been in a standoff. Clearly, the cops had had enough by Thursday and decided to take forcible action.

Check out this video ... hundreds of CHP officers assisted by the LAPD and Sheriff's Office ripped apart portions of the encampment while exploding fireworks or flashbangs were heard in the background.

The officers, wearing tactical gear, were also seen detaining several students, using plastic zip ties as they sat on the ground. It was not clear if the protesters were actually arrested.

Still, it's pretty dramatic stuff that's going on at UCLA ... as well as at universities across the nation.

As everyone knows, Columbia University became Ground Zero for these protests -- but the NYPD rolled in Wednesday and squashed the whole thing.