Newport Beach mayor calls out Irvine mayor for supporting protesters who seized a building

The mayor of Newport Beach was not happy to see the mayor of Irvine publicly condemn police action at the University of California, Irvine while Newport Beach police were on scene to help out her city's illegal encampment.

When the anti-Israel protesters took over a campus building, responding police were pushed out. Multiple law enforcement agencies in Orange County responded to provide backup for the clearing operation. Dozens of protesters were arrested during the sweep.

'The encampers assured our community that they were committed to maintaining a peaceful and nondisruptive encampment.'

The official X account for Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan expressed the mayor's dismay at the actions of the police, not the building occupiers.

"It’s a shame that peaceful free speech protests are always responded to with violence. Taking space on campus or in a building is not a threat to anyone. UCI leadership must do everything they can to avoid creating a violent scenario here. These are your students w/ zero weapons," the account posted to UC Irvine's warning of the protest.

Newport Beach Mayor Will O'Neill chided Khan's statement because his officers were on the ground and her "carless words" were accusing them of violence.

"If that’s what you meant, then your message is beneath the office of Mayor. If it is not, then clarify immediately," he concluded.

Khan did not respond to O'Neill's post.

One UCI professor made the news after she ranted to reporters after being arrested during the police sweep.

"We cannot have a genocidal foreign policy in a democracy," the professor said. "These young people are going to be the ones to pay the price for these horrible decisions. These police officers out here today, that's thousands of student scholarships! Thousands of students could've been able to go to school and have books and have housing!"

Chancellor Howard Gillman revealed he was prepared to have the illegal encampment remain on campus so long as the protesters did not escalate their tactics. He said he had no choice but to involve police after the building was forcibly taken over.

"And so after weeks when the encampers assured our community that they were committed to maintaining a peaceful and nondisruptive encampment, it was terrible to see that they would dramatically alter the situation in a way that was a direct assault on the rights of other students and the university mission," Gillman said.

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