Code Pink targets LA Times book festival to demand 'Free Palestine,' support valedictorian

Code Pink, the anti-war group, protested in support of the Palestinian people Monday at a large book festival being held at the University of Southern California.

Group members visited the LA Times Festival of Books on the USC campus to also support 2024 valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, who was supposed to give her valedictorian remarks at this years commencement ceremony before the school scrapped canceled the speech.

"Today at the LA Times Festival of Books we put Palestine on the agenda!" Code Pink posted on X. "Ahead of World Central Kitchen’s Jose Andres’ speech, we demanded accountability for Israel’s murder of 35,000+ Palestinians and WCK aid workers. FREE FREE PALESTINE."

Code Pink members were seen walking on the Los Angeles campus with signs calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and holding Palestinian flags.

Last week, USC announced it would be not be allowing Tabassum, a biomedical engineering major, to give her valedictorian speech during the main stage commencement after a series of social media posts she made about Israel.

"To be clear: this decision has nothing to do with freedom of speech. There is no free-speech entitlement to speak at a commencement. The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period," Andrew Guzman, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, wrote in the statement.