Officers detained the person in a white vehicle as protesters followed and demanded the person’s release. The protesters gathered around both sides of the vehicle, chanting, “Let him go!” and “Shame on you!”

After roughly 30 minutes, the officers released the protester as the crowd moved back to Alumni Park, where they stood with white signs that read “Let Gaza live.”

Off-campus groups circulated video of the protests and called on the public to show up at USC. “Los Angeles get here now!! We need bodies!!!” said social media posts by the People’s City Council.

Shortly after 1 p.m., the university sent out a text message alert saying it closed the campus gates.

“Anyone coming to campus should be prepared to show an ID at the gates for class or for business. Please continue to avoid the center of campus unless you have a class,” it said.

By 2 p.m., Provost Andrew Guzman sent a campus-wide email saying protesters “threatened the safety of our officers and campus community.”

“The university values freedom of expression and protects the right of every member of our community to express themselves. We have well-established policies regarding limits on the time, place, and manner of free expression. These include a prohibition on erecting tents or other encampments, use of loudspeakers, signs on poles or stakes, and the disruption of classes and other essential functions of the university,” the letter said.

Guzman said protesters were “repeatedly asked by security personnel to remove their tents and other prohibited items as well as relocate to a compliant location. In each case, protesters refused. Their actions have escalated to the point of confrontation and have threatened the safety of our officers and campus community.”

The protest at USC comes after more than a week of campus tensions that began when Folt canceled a speaking engagement by valedictorian Asna Tabassum that was supposed to take place at the May 10 main-stage commencement, which is expected to draw 65,000 people.

The decision came after on- and off-campus pro-Israel groups criticized Tabassum for posting a pro-Palestinian link on her Instagram bio that they said was antisemitic. USC said the cancellation was not tied to Tabassum’s political views and was instead in response to unspecified threats to campus safety targeted at her speech. The university has also canceled a main-stage commencement address by director Jon M. Chu and appearances by honorary degree recipients, including tennis star Billie Jean King.

“Everyone, from our valedictorian Asna Tabassum all the way to any student who speaks up against genocide, should have the full support of the university, contrary to what we are seeing, which was incredible repression,” said Ahmad, a Palestinian American protester with the Palestinian Youth Movement who would not share his last name. “The university has to this date not said a word about our families, the genocide we are experiencing in Gaza.”

Several professors also joined the protest on Wednesday, holding a sign that said, “USC faculty against the genocide in Palestine.” One of them was Amelia Jones, a professor at the Roski School of Art and Design.

“This is about what’s happening in Gaza, but it’s also about what’s happening here,” said Jones. “They pulled a student from commencement for nothing she actually said or did. Yet a university is supposed be a place of free speech. We haven’t heard a word from our president about anything. We feel unheard and disconnected.”

In a statement, the USC administration said it believed the demonstrators — most of whom appeared undergraduate age — were not from USC.

“The university has a policy that prohibits camping on campus, which is in the Student Handbook. About 10-15 people came to campus at 4:30 a.m. today with tents. DPS officers advised them of the policy, and the people took the tents down,” the statement said.

“The people remain in Alumni Park — most appeared to be unaffiliated with the university,” the statement continued. “Our students, faculty and staff are allowed to express their views and have been doing so throughout the school year.”

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