Campus Alert Archive
Cal State LA

'Please Do Not Come to Main Campus': 58 Employees Trapped as Protesters Occupy Cal State LA's Student Services Building

CAcivil unrestemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the afternoon of June 12, 2024, between 50 and 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators barricaded Cal State LA's multistory Student Services Building at approximately 4:00 PM PDT, trapping university President Berenecea Johnson Eanes and approximately 58 staff members inside while some employees were directed to shelter in place. Protesters flipped golf carts, copiers, and furniture to create barricades. Most employees escaped by 6:00 PM; a group of administrators remained until after midnight. Most protesters left around 1:15 AM on June 13 and returned to an outdoor encampment. Cal State LA then issued a 'protest action alert' directing all campus affiliates 'Please do not come to main campus' and shifting all operations to remote until further notice.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
California State University, Los Angeles
Public Masters · CA
Cal State LA Emergency Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction403 chars
[Cal State LA issued an advisory notifying employees inside the Student Services Building that the building was surrounded by demonstrators and that they should shelter in place and await further instructions. Employees were advised not to attempt to exit through the barricaded main entrance. University security personnel were coordinating with Los Angeles Police Department to monitor the situation.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The Cal State LA Student Services Building is a multistory administrative complex on the main East Los Angeles campus, housing the university president's office and multiple administrative departments
A group of demonstrators chained themselves to the building's main entrance while others constructed barricades from overturned golf carts, furniture, copiers, and a vending machine
University President Berenecea Johnson Eanes was among the approximately 58 employees initially trapped inside the building; most of the 58 found other exits and escaped by 6:00 PM PDT
UPDATEweb
Verified verbatimLAist and CBS Los Angeles both quoted this exact text verbatim as Cal State LA's official 'protest action alert' posted to the university's website on June 13, 202434 chars
Please do not come to main campus.
This message appeared on Cal State LA's official website under the designation 'protest action alert' -- a non-standard notification category distinct from the campus's regular emergency alert system, reflecting the university's choice to treat the situation as a public-safety operational directive rather than a Clery emergency
The 'protest action alert' was paired with an announcement that all classes and campus operations would be held remotely until further notice; the Downtown Los Angeles campus was explicitly excluded and operated on its normal schedule
Cal State LA's campus is located in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles; the June 2024 occupation was among the latest in the spring 2024 Gaza protest wave nationally, occurring six weeks after most other campus encampment clearances
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Approximate reconstruction512 chars
[Cal State LA President Berenecea Johnson Eanes issued a statement to the campus community stating that negotiation with the protesters was 'no longer possible' following the overnight building occupation and associated property damage. The university would take appropriate measures to restore normal operations. Anti-Israel protesters were no longer welcome on campus following the Student Services Building takeover, and the university was working with law enforcement to address the unauthorized encampment.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The building sustained significant damage including spray-painted graffiti, overturned office equipment and furniture, and items used to construct barricades; images showed the interior in disarray
Cal State LA's President Johnson Eanes had been personally inside the building during the occupation -- one of the few documented instances in the spring 2024 encampment wave where a university president was directly involved in a building takeover
LAPD was monitoring the situation throughout but did not enter the building or make arrests during the overnight occupation; the protest action alert marked the first formal campus-wide disruption to normal operations at Cal State LA due to protest activity
Context

Background

Cal State LA's Student Services Building occupation on June 12, 2024, was one of the last major campus building occupations of the spring 2024 Gaza protest wave, occurring well after most other university encampments had been cleared. Students had maintained a 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' on the Cal State LA campus beginning in May 2024. On June 12, 50 to 100 demonstrators barricaded the Student Services Building, which houses the university president's office, at approximately 4:00 PM PDT. Protesters overturned golf carts, vending machines, copiers, and furniture to block entrances, and some chained themselves to the main entrance. President Berenecea Johnson Eanes and approximately 58 employees were inside; the university directed employees inside the building to shelter in place. Most employees escaped through other exits by 6:00 PM. A group of administrators remained inside until after midnight to manage the situation. Protesters vacated the building voluntarily around 1:15 AM on June 13 and returned to the outdoor encampment. Cal State LA then issued a 'protest action alert' on its website with the seven-word directive 'Please do not come to main campus,' shifting all classes and campus operations to remote mode. The building sustained extensive property damage. President Johnson Eanes subsequently declared that negotiation with protesters was 'no longer possible.' LAPD monitored the situation throughout but made no arrests during the occupation itself. This case is notable in the archive for its late date in the 2024 protest wave, the personal involvement of the university president, and the extremely terse 'protest action alert' format used to communicate a campus-wide operational shutdown.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Pro-Palestinian protesters leave behind damaged building after Cal State LA takeover (KTLA)
    ktla.com
  2. News
    Classes Move Online At Cal State LA After Protesters Barricade Themselves In Building (LAist)
    laist.com
  3. national media
    Cal State LA protesters enter administration building, staff told to shelter in place (ABC News)
    abcnews.go.com
  4. News
    CSULA classes will be remote after protesters damage building (CBS Los Angeles)
    cbsnews.com
  5. national media
    Pro-Palestinian protesters cleared from California State University, Los Angeles (CNN)
    cnn.com
  6. News
    Negotiation with protesters 'no longer possible,' Cal State LA says (KTLA)
    ktla.com
Tags
civil-unrestbuilding-occupationstudent-services-buildingshelter-in-placeprotest-action-alertgaza-encampmentremote-operationslapdcaliforniaeast-los-angelespublic-masters
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion