Mayor Supports Students’ Right to ‘Peacefully Assemble and Protest’ at UC Irvine

An encampment of pro-Palestinian supporters formed April 29 is still holding strong at the University of California–Irvine with an estimated 60 students and others occupying tents near the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall. Law enforcement have been asked to not intervene by Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, who remained on campus all day April 29 as more than 100 surrounded the encampment. “I am asking our law enforcement to stand down,” Mayor Khan said. “I will not tolerate any violations to our students’ rights to peacefully assemble and protest.” About 100 pro-Palestine protestors gather at the University of California–Irvine in Irvine, Calif., on April 29, 2024. (Rudy Blalock/The Epoch Times) (L-R) Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, Ayesha Kamran, and a supporter of Palestine at a pro-Palestine protest at the University of California–Irvine in Irvine, Calif., on April 29, 2024. (Courtesy of Ayesha Kamran) Campus police were joined in a nearby parking lot by those from the Costa Mesa Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department by mid-afternoon Monday....