LOS ANGELES — Although more than 200 people were arrested Thursday when police broke up a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA, the majority of them were quickly processed and released, with most facing only possible misdemeanor charges of unlawful assembly or failure to disperse.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, speaking to local media on Thursday afternoon, said it was unlikely that many — if any — of the protesters would be facing possible felonies that would be handled by his office. Misdemeanor prosecutions within the city are handled by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.

“The district attorney does not have misdemeanor jurisdiction in the city of LA so all the misdemeanor cases will go to the LA City Attorney,” Gascón told the station. “If there are felony cases, they will come to us. We will review them and if we believe that it meets the, you know, Penal Code threshold for a prosecutable case as a felony, then we will do so.”

He noted that after 93 people were arrested during a Palestinian protest at USC last week, only one potential case was referred to the District Attorney’s Office for a possible felony case filing. However, the prosecutor who reviewed the case determined there was “not enough for a felony” case, only a misdemeanor, Gascón said.

The district attorney said he wants the public to understand that “everybody has a constitutional right to express their views, but they do not have a constitutional right to harm others or to destroy property.”

“And to that extent, if a case comes our way, we will make sure that people are held accountable according to their behavior and their past history,” Gascón said.

He said that based on videos of the overnight arrests, most of the potential cases probably have to do with not obeying a lawful dispersal order, trespassing and possibly misdemeanor battery.

Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia said in a statement that his office is committed to providing all arrestees with legal representation and support.

“At this time, we do not have information on what, if any, charges will be presented,” he said. “Nonetheless, it is essential that due process and the presumption of innocence are upheld. We will work diligently to protect the rights of our clients throughout."

The bulk of the detainees were taken on buses downtown for processing, then released, according to sheriff’s officials.