Police descend on UC Irvine campus as protesters occupy lecture hall

Tensions at the University of California, Irvine campus escalated Wednesday as a group of several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters entered a lecture hall and surrounded the building, according to school officials.

The Irvine Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Department were called to the scene after the university called for mutual aid from local law enforcement agencies, UC Irvine said in an emergency update.

Authorities have begun making arrests, though the number is unknown during the active situation.