Police on Wednesday appeared to take back control of a lecture hall from pro-Palestinian protesters who for several hours occupied a building at the University of California, Irvine, a university spokesperson said.

At least one person has been arrested after police responded to the campus of the University of California, Irvine, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators have overtaken a building and constructed a barricade.

Palestinian protesters occupied a building at the University of California, Irvine, on Wednesday, leading university officials to call in multiple police agencies, cancel classes and advise people on campus to shelter in place,

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.

A UC Irvine spokesperson said several hundred protesters entered the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall at about 2:30 p.m. before surrounding the building. The university described the protest as "violent" but could not elaborate on what type of violence occurred.

Students were told to "leave area" after hundreds of anti-Israel agitators descended onto the campus of UC Irvine on Wednesday, barricading campus buildings.

Protesters at UC Berkeley took over a condemned hall Wednesday afternoon, and protesters at UC Irvine drew a police response, according to officials.