All tents at UofT encampment appear to have been taken down ahead of 6 p.m. deadline

All tents at a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Toronto appear to have been taken down ahead of a 6 p.m. deadline to clear the site.

CP24’s Steve Ryan, reporting from the scene, says there were “zero” tents on King’s College Circle as of 4 p.m., two hours before the deadline that had been given to protesters to vacate the site.

Protesters are now gathered near the encampment site for a solidarity rally.

The Toronto Police Service has been urging protesters at the encampment to leave voluntarily “to avoid police action” as the force indicated it would enforce the court’s order.

The University of Toronto has asked police for help to clear the encampment, which has been on King’s College Circle since May 2, after being granted an injunction.

On Tuesday, an Ontario judge ordered demonstrators to take down the encampment, tents and other structures.

The court ordered that police would be authorized to arrest and remove those who do not leave the encampment after the deadline.

TPS says it will not disclose operational details.

“Refusing to leave disobeys a court order and obstructs police in their duty to enforce,” TPS said in another statement posted on social media. “Both are criminal offences.”

Some demonstrators began taking down tents and tarps on Wednesday morning, but in a statement, encampment representatives said they hadn’t made a final decision about the deadline.

Tents are shown at a encampment on King’s College Circle on the University of Toronto campus on July 3. (CP24)

“All of the movement at the encampment is being done in preparation for potential police escalation, given what we’ve seen police do to students at other universities across Canada and North America,” the group UofT Occupy for Palestine said.

In a subsequent statement, the group said they would provide their plans for the evening at a 5 p.m. press conference.

“We know police are going to be here. And we will sort of have to see what happens,” Erin Mackey, a spokesperson for the encampment, told reporters. “We have been here since day one and been very clear about our demands. And unfortunately, instead of doing the right thing, UofT’s called police on their own students.”

Mackey vowed that demonstrators will “continue this fight long after this encampment ends.”

Demonstrators have been calling for the university to disclose and divest from investments in companies profiting from Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza. The two parties had presented offers to end the encampment, but no agreement was reached.

Demonstrators are seen at an encampment on the campus of the University of Toronto on July 3. (CP24)

In his decision on Tuesday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Markus Koehnen said while there is no evidence the encampment participants have been violent or antisemitic, the demonstration has taken away the university’s ability to control what happens in King’s College Circle.

Koehnen said property owners generally decide what happens on their property, and if protesters can take that power for themselves, there is nothing to stop a stronger group from coming and taking over the space from the current protesters, leading to chaos.

The ruling, however, dismissed allegations that the encampment demonstrators had trafficked in antisemitic hate speech and slogans, accusations routinely directed at the group by pro-Israeli organizations.

With files from The Canadian Press