Zionist Attack on UCLA Protesters: A Chronicle of Events and Aftermath
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), like many universities across the country, experienced a period of unrest marked by protests, encampments, and clashes related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly in the wake of the October 7th attack and the ensuing war in Gaza. These events have led to violence, vandalism, arrests, and calls for change, significantly impacting the campus community.
Timeline of Events
Initial Protests and Encampment
On April 25, 2024, a student protest began at UCLA to protest the administration's investments in Israel. Students and faculty set up an encampment in the plaza between Royce Hall and Powell Library. Protestors erected wooden barricades and displayed signs with slogans such as "UCLA says Free Palestine" and "UC has blood on its hands." The 'Palestine Solidarity Encampment' group was formed, including the UC Divest Coalition, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
The administration released a statement on April 26, saying that it prioritized the safety of students and minimizing disruption, but also that it supported free expression on campus and was therefore not requesting law enforcement at that time. UCLA police patrolled the perimeter of the encampment. However, some Israeli and Jewish students said they felt uncomfortable.
Escalation of Tensions
On April 28, the administration created a physical barrier to separate dueling protestors. Later in the day, demonstrators broke through, and a confrontation ensued. On April 29, faculty organized a walkout in solidarity with the protestors. Pro-Palestinian protestors set up metal barricades and appointed guards to block access to counter-protestors and media. Counter-protestors shouted through microphones and played loud music in front of the encampment early in the day. Later, a group of around 60 counter-protestors tried to breach the encampment, which led to heavy clashes.
Violent Clashes and Delayed Police Response
Violence erupted at UCLA on April 30, 2024, when a vigilante mob, largely composed of individuals who appeared to be from outside the campus and not of student age, attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment. Carrying Israeli flags, the attackers tried to tear down the camp, assaulting students with pepper spray, sticks, stones, and metal fencing. Eyewitness accounts and reports indicated that police stood by, initially failing to protect the students.
Read also: Dangerous TikTok Trend
Joey Scott, an investigative journalist, described the scene as "really shocking and ugly scene of violence." Before the police arrived, a group reportedly piled on one person who lay on the ground, kicking and beating them until others pulled them out of the scrum.
Al Jazeera’s Reynolds said the mob at UCLA reminded him of “settler violence on the [occupied] West Bank without the use of as much lethal force, but this is clearly a violent, uncontrolled mob that is bent on mayhem”.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement on X early on Wednesday morning that police were responding to requests for support from the UCLA administration and called the violence “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable”.
The antiwar group said that “law enforcement simply stood at the edge of the lawn and refused to budge as we screamed for their help. The only means of protection we had was each other. The university’s hypocrisy all too apparent.
Scott said he believed the delayed police response to the UCLA violence would serve as “inspiration” to potential attackers, seeking to force pro-Palestinian protesters to drop their demands.
Read also: Experience Attack on Titan in Japan
Police Intervention and Arrests
Eventually, law enforcement intervened, clearing the encampment. Video on social media showed officers shoving people around as they cleared them from the street and pavements. Many arrested protesters were driven away on city buses. On May 2, LAPD officers broke into the encampment but were forced to retreat after they were outnumbered. On the morning of Monday, May 6, UCPD arrested 44 pro-Palestine protestors, 35 of whom were students, in Parking Lot 2.
Subsequent Protests and Actions
Pro-Palestinian activism at UCLA continued as students protested Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and the West Bank. On Wednesday about 50 to 100 students unfurled large banners from a second-floor courtyard and blocked access to a stairwell at an engineering building. They were denouncing the war in Gaza and again called on UC leaders to divest the system’s $180 billion investments from weapons manufacturers and companies and assets tied to Israel.
UC police briefly swept the building, but by then, no protesting students were atop the courtyard or near the stairwell. No arrests were made. Some student protesters briefly halted the regents meeting today with chants. A line of police assembled, but students cleared the meeting space on their own.
Legal and University Responses
Lawsuits Filed
Nearly a year after the attack on UCLA students and faculty who formed an encampment protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, participants in that encampment are suing senior officials from the University of California and UCLA, alleging that the system violated their civil rights and rights to free expression by summoning law enforcement to clear their protest.
In all, 35 individuals filed suit over three events: the attack on the UCLA encampment, law enforcement’s clearing of the encampment the next day when more than 200 people were arrested, and a separate protest on June 10 in which additional students and faculty were arrested. Lawyers for the group want a trial by jury. The legal process may drag out for months, if not longer.
Read also: Overview of Lake Forest College Safety
The plaintiffs collectively seek millions of dollars in compensation from the UC and the other defendants for sustaining physical and emotional harm, Harvey said, though precise figures will emerge if a trial ensues. The suit also wants the UC to change its policies for when they summon police to break up protests.
The 86-page suit also alleges that police were wrong to arrest protesters, arguing that police had no right to issue a dispersal order to the protesters because the order was based on campus violations, not criminal acts. Any arrests that followed were illegal, the suit argues. Next, it faults unnamed law enforcement officers for firing non-lethal projectiles at protesters.
The lawsuit states that until protesters’ demands are met, “UCLA will continue to be a site of rallies and protests, and plaintiffs are likely to encounter the same repression” unless the UC changes its practices.
University Actions and Policies
Following the events, UCLA announced several measures aimed at addressing safety and security concerns. These included increased security presence, investigations into the violence, and policy changes regarding protests and encampments. UCLA implemented a “zero tolerance” policy, banning encampments, masks that hide identities, and any protests that block pathways.
Effective immediately, I am moving oversight and management of UCLA PD and the Office of Emergency Management from the Office of the Administrative Vice Chancellor to a newly created Office of Campus Safety, whose leader reports directly to me. It is clear that UCLA needs a unit and leader whose sole responsibility is campus safety to guide us through tense times… Leading the Office of Campus Safety as its inaugural associate vice chancellor is Rick Braziel, who brings to the position more than 30 years of public safety service, including five years as chief of police for the City of Sacramento.
Settlement in Discrimination Lawsuit
UCLA announced Tuesday that it has reached a settlement in a discrimination lawsuit brought by Jewish students and a faculty member, agreeing to pay more than $6 million. The plaintiffs, who brought the lawsuit in June 2024, accused the university of failing to take action when pro-Palestinian protesters set up encampments last spring. They claimed that the protest areas were inaccessible to Jewish students and amounted to what plaintiffs referred to as “Jew exclusion zones.”
While UCLA has denied any wrongdoing, it agreed to settle fully, with $50,000 payments to each of the plaintiffs in addition to $2.33 million in donations to organizations that combat antisemitism. The eight organizations to which the school agreed to donate include Hillel at UCLA, the Academic Engagement Network and the Anti-Defamation League, the settlement said. Additionally, the school said it will allocate $320,000 for its Initiative to Combat Antisemitism, according to a press release about the settlement.
Justice Department Involvement
The day the settlement was announced, the Justice Department shared that in its investigation into the University of California system, it found that UCLA violated federal civil rights law by acting with “deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.”
The agency’s Civil Rights Division said the university had failed to “adequately” respond to complaints of harassment and abuse toward its Jewish and Israeli students on campus since Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel.
The Justice Department had filed a statement of interest for the plaintiffs in the settlement case. However, a DOJ spokesperson told NBC News that “the settlement is not directly related to DOJ’s findings, but underscores DOJ’s finding of systemic antisemitism at UCLA.”
Criminal Charges and Diversionary Program
A man charged with a hate crime for his role in a wild mob attack on a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA last year has entered a diversionary program to avoid jail time, marking the end of the first and only felony case filed in connection with the violence.
Malachi Marlan-Librett, 28, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, battery and a hate crime for two different incidents on the UCLA campus last year, court records show. Under the terms of a July 7 plea deal he must attend 90 hours of therapy and anti-bias training, according to court records. If he complies, all charges will be dismissed.
Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto filed two other misdemeanor cases related to violence at the encampment. Edan On, 19, was caught on camera swinging a pipe at residents of the encampment last year, records show. Matthew Katz, a pro-Palestinian protester, was also charged with battery, false imprisonment and resisting arrest at the encampment.
Reactions and Perspectives
Pro-Palestinian Activists
In interviews, pro-Palestinian students who participated in last year’s encampments and protests this year said the ceasefire was welcome news, but only fulfilled part of what led them to take to campus greens. Student organizers in California said the ceasefire will infuse new energy into their activism, which has been accused of minimizing the plight of Israeli hostages and being antisemitic.
Pro-Israel Supporters
Among pro-Israel Jewish communities on campuses nationwide, there is also a sense of relief. Jewish student groups had regularly gathered on campuses, including last week, for candlelight vigils, songs and prayer services to honor dead and living hostages in Gaza and their families two years after the Oct. 7 attack.
Faculty Perspectives
David N. Myers, a UCLA professor of Jewish history, said student protesters appear to have helped change American views on Palestinians and Israel. Graeme Blair, a professor of political science at UCLA, said the climate for pro-Palestinian activism on campuses had worsened, and the government now aggressively treats pro-Palestinian speech as being antisemitic.
tags: #zionist #attack #ucla #protesters #news
