UPDATE, 11:30 p.m.: And just like that, law enforcement called it a night. Just before 11 p.m., all assembled officers left the front of Siemens Hall, allowing the students out front full access.

The protesting is not done, though. A few dozen of the demonstrators have moved on to the Humboldt County Courthouse — see above — to wait in solidarity for the release of the unconfirmed number of students who were arrested earlier in the evening. 

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UPDATE, 10:37 p.m.: It has been quiet in the last hour. People seem to be settling in for the night.

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UPDATE, 9:30 p.m.: Things are starting to get a little tense, as can be seen in the video above. Protesters inside the building are communicating via signs with the people outside. The police are between them.

The CHP helicopter that had been circling the scene has left, due to weather and — apparently — a close call with a drone.

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UPDATE, 9:20 p.m.: Press release from Cal Poly Humboldt:

Several protesters are occupying Siemens Hall, an academic and administrative building on campus. Campus is closed through Wednesday, April 24 for the safety of the campus community.

The University is deeply worried about the safety of the students who remain in the building. 

The University is urgently asking that the students listen to directives from the law enforcement that has responded and peacefully leave the building.

Students and others are advised to avoid the area of the building, as it is a dangerous situation.

Several protestors inside have barricaded themselves inside the building with furniture, vandalized parts of the building, and blocked entrances and elevators with tents, violating fire codes and creating extreme safety hazards for those inside.

The situation began at approximately 4:50 p.m. when University Police received reports of dozens of protesters occupying the building.

Classes in Siemens Hall were canceled, and the five courses that were in progress were evacuated. The building was shut down after protesters refused to leave voluntarily. 

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UPDATE, 9:10 p.m .: The crowd has only gotten larger after nightfall. The Outpost estimates that about 300 people are standing outside Siemens Hall. 

Arcata City Councilmember Sarah Schaefer came up to the witness what was going on. “From what I can see outside, I think this is overkill,” she says of the police response.

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UPDATE, 9 p.m.: Cal Poly Humboldt has announced that the campus will be closed until at least Wednesday. Police dispatch chatter notes that they’ll be shutting off WiFi to the building.

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UPDATE, 8:25 p.m.: Things seem at more or less a stalemate at the moment, as night falls, per this video from the Outpost’s Andrew Goff, but a police dispatch channel notes that a CHP riot team is en route from Redding.

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Law enforcement officers from throughout the region have descended on Cal Poly Humboldt this evening, as pro-Palestine protesters conduct a major demonstration at the university. The protesters have occupied Siemens Hall, and are reportedly confronting police.

It is perhaps the most tense confrontation between Humboldt County law enforcement and local activists in decades. At about 7:45 p.m., one officer told dispatchers that there were about 100 protesters near the hall, with multiple fights taking place. The officer reported that other police had attempted to take students into custody, but the crowd had pulled them back.

At one point another officer called for a pepper ball launcher to be delivered.

At the same time, officers from Calfire, the California Highway Patrol and the Ferndale police could be seen speeding through Eureka toward the scene. Ambulance and fire personnel are staged away from the action at locations around the university.

Lost Coast Outpost “Scanner Traffic Indicates” correspondent “Todd,” noted at around 6:30 p.m. that a protest on the campus was getting out of hand at the same time as two major rescue operations were underway in the east part of the county. At around 7:30 p.m. — about an hour before sunset — a CHP helicopter that had been working those rescues was diverted to the incident, according to scanner traffic.

According to the @humboldtforpalestine Instagram account, which posted a statement at around 7 p.m., protesters are demanding that the university “disclose all holdings and collaborations with the zionist entity,” an academic boycott of Israeli universities, proactive pardons for the protesters and, finally, an immediate ceasefire and end to the occupation of Palestine.

The university has canceled all classes in Siemens Hall for the time being.

The Outpost’s Andrew Goff is at the scene. We will be updating this post.