In a swift-moving, predawn operation three days before graduation ceremonies begin, USC campus police and LAPD officers in riot gear cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment from the center of campus Sunday as protesters beat drums and chanted.

No arrests were reported and no violence erupted during the police sweep, a university spokesperson said.

“Earlier today, the University of Southern California Department of Public Safety (DPS) successfully removed the illegal encampment rebuilt on the university’s campus. It was necessary to request the Los Angeles Police Department to respond to provide security as this was carried out peacefully,” Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications, said in a statement.

“We want to thank LAPD for assisting DPS in clearing the encampment and restoring normalcy for students and community as quickly and safely as possible,” he said. “We will share more information with our community later today.”

At 4:17 a.m. USC issued an alert saying the LAPD had arrived and that people should leave the park area in the center of campus. Officials gave demonstrators the option to leave before being arrested. A group of about 30 protesters left the encampment as LAPD pushed them toward the university’s Jefferson Boulevard entrance.

“Free, free Palestine,” demonstrators chanted when they faced police at the perimeter, beating drums as helicopters hovered overhead.

“Please show up to USC right now. They won’t let you in but we can mobilize folks around the perimeter,” said a live video posted by demonstrators to the USC Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation page on Instagram at 4:30 a.m.

About 5 a.m., police entered the core of the encampment and began dismantling tents, leaving behind posters and the makeshift barriers. A perimeter was set up outside the university park area where media and protesters gathered. By 6 a.m. the encampment area appeared empty and quiet. Los Angeles police had largely left and about 33 campus police officers patrolled the area as trucks and workers hauled away the encampment debris. DPS chief Lauretta Hill was seen giving a fist bump to remaining officers.

By 8 a.m., the encampment was cleaned up and workers with Town and Country Event Rentals began installing a nearly six-foot tall black fence around Alumni Park.

On their Instagram account protesters said, “We will be back. Free Palestine.”

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