Law enforcement stormed and secured the pro-Palestinian protester encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, after an hourslong standoff.

On Wednesday evening, the UCLA Police Department, backed by the Los Angeles Police Department, California Highway Patrol, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, declared that the encampment was unlawful and must be dispersed. In response, protesters fortified their camp and refused to move, prompting the arrival of hundreds of riot police officers. Police sealed off the perimeter and gathered more forces, beginning a standoff that lasted until the early hours of Thursday, when they decided to strike.

Protesters had surrounded their camp with a wall of wood pallets and plywood, bound together with zip ties and drilled screws. In preparation for the storming, the group stockpiled personal protective equipment, helmets, gas masks, goggles, umbrellas, paint, plywood, and other riot gear.

The protesters disseminated detailed tactical advice around the camp. The UCLA Palestinian solidarity encampment announced on its Telegram its intention to hold the police “all night.” Other posts discussed tactics dealing with police, ordering front-line protesters to wear gas masks and to rotate their forces.

After several hours of waiting, law enforcement carried out its plan. The LAPD was tasked with securing the perimeter, the California Highway Patrol was tasked with entering the encampment, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was tasked with crowd control.

CHP riot police began their first attempt to breach the encampment at around 3 a.m. local time, according to journalist Anthony Cabassa. A video of the incident showed opposing phalanxes of riot police and protesters clashing. The protesters were largely armed with makeshift shields and umbrellas.

The first clash ended in favor of the protesters, who briefly halted the advance of the CHP. However, police quickly regrouped and breached the camp wall an hour later with the help of tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets.

Police poured through the breach and fully entered the encampment a little over an hour after the initial storming attempt began. Protesters were fully dislodged from fortified positions around Royce Hall at around 4:45 a.m. local time.

Protesters fell back to a second defensive line at around 5 a.m. local time for a last stand but were overtaken soon after. The CHP took full control of the encampment at around 5:30 a.m.

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Protesters left behind a significant mess, with tents and garbage strewn across the lawn, as well as extensive graffiti on Royce Hall.

A CHP spokesman announced that “hundreds” of protesters had been arrested over the course of the operation, according to ABC 7 News.