NYC mayor says about 300 people arrested in crackdowns on protests at Columbia and City College; UCLA cancels classes amid clashing protests [Video]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dueling groups of protesters clashed overnight at the University of California, Los Angeles, shoving, kicking and beating each other with sticks after pro-Israel demonstrators tried to pull down barricades surrounding a pro-Palestinian encampment. Hours earlier, police burst into a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University, breaking up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school.

After a couple of hours of scuffles between demonstrators at UCLA, police wearing helmets and face shields slowly separated the groups and quelled the violence. The scene was calm as day broke.

UCLA canceled classes Wednesday and urged people to avoid the area where the fighting broke out. The school’s library won’t reopen until Monday and Royce Hall, which authorities said was vandalized, is closed through Friday. UCLA stationed law enforcement officers throughout campus.

Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gazahave spread across campuses nationwide in a …