Pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA ordered to disperse

LOS ANGELES (NewsNation) — Law enforcement at the University of California, Los Angeles campus donned riot gear Wednesday evening as they ordered dispersal of more than a thousand people who had gathered in support of a pro-Palestinian student encampment, warning over loudspeakers that anyone who refused to leave could face arrest.

A large crowd of students, alumni and neighbors gathered on campus steps outside the barricaded area of tents mostly stayed put, sitting as they listened and applauded various speakers and joined in pro-Palestinian chants. Overhead television cameras showed students in the barricaded area passing out goggles and helmets, as well as setting up medical aid stations. A small group of students holding signs and wearing T-shirts in support of Israel and Jewish people gathered nearby.

The law enforcement presence and continued warnings stood in contrast to the scene that unfolded the night before, when counter-demonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, throwing traffic cones, releasing pepper spray and tearing down barriers. Fighting continued for several hours before police stepped in, and no one was arrested. At least 15 protesters suffered injuries, and the tepid response by authorities drew criticism from political leaders as well as Muslim students and advocacy groups.

Classes were canceled Wednesday following clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters that happened overnight.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that “a group of instigators” perpetrated the attack, but he did not provide details about the crowd or why the administration and school police did not act sooner.

“However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable,” he said. “It has shaken our campus to its core.”

Block promised a review of the night’s events after California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Los Angeles mayor denounced the delays.

“The community needs to feel the police are protecting them, not enabling others to harm them,” Rebecca Husaini, chief of staff for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said in a news conference on the Los Angeles campus later Wednesday, when some Muslim students detailed the overnight events.

Speakers disputed the university’s account that 15 people were injured and one hospitalized, saying the number of people taken to the hospital was higher. One student described needing to go to a hospital after being hit in the head by an object wielded by counter-protesters.

Several students who spoke during the news conference said they had to rely on each other, not the police, for support as they were attacked, and that many in the pro-Palestinian encampment remained peaceful and did not engage with counter-protesters. 

NewsNation local affiliate KTLA reports that the violence started after pro-Israel demonstrators attempted to take down barricades surrounding a pro-Palestinian tent encampment. This encampment mirrors ones set up at college campuses across the country, filled with students demanding their schools divest from companies supporting Israel and calling for an immediate end to the country’s military offensive in Gaza, which has killed an estimated 34,000 people, per the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

People threw chairs and other objects, according to KTLA. A group of people piled on one person who lay on the ground, kicking and beating them with sticks until they were rescued from the scrum. Four reporters from the UCLA student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, were followed and then assaulted, the news outlet wrote. Daily Bruin journalists caught video footage of three counter-protestors setting off fireworks in the direction of the encampment.

The Los Angeles Times reports that a group of security guards observed the fights, but did not move in to stop them. A law enforcement source told the newspaper that the LAPD reached out to UCLA police after they broke out, but were told not to bring in anti-riot police. Eventually, though, The LA Times said, UCLA agreed to accept help from the larger police force after a discussion that took several hours. LAPD and California Highway Patrol officers were allowed to intervene around 1 a.m.

As they arrived on campus, members of the Los Angeles Police Department wore riot gear and gas masks. Hundreds of law enforcement officers made their way to UCLA early Wednesday morning.

“At the request of UCLA, due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus, the LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD, and other law enforcement agencies, to restore order and maintain public safety,” LAPD HQ posted on X.

The scene was calmer later Wednesday morning, with law enforcement pulling back their lines after clearing the pro-Israel protesters, although the LAPD and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department remained on campus. Students worked on putting the encampment barricades back together using plywood and pallets.

BREAKING: Tense situation at #UCLA. 100+ LAPD, LASD & CHP in riot gear. Police line just moved closer to pro Palestinian encampment. Officers equipped with gas masks. @NewsNation pic.twitter.com/tgr9fc7f0h

— Nancy Loo (@NancyLoo) May 1, 2024

Violent clashes at UCLA

On Tuesday night, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the pro-Palestinian encampments were “unlawful” and a violation of university policy. He urged demonstrators to leave, condemning the violent actions of some.

“Many of the demonstrators, as well as counter-demonstrators who have come to the area, have been peaceful in their activism. But the tactics of others have frankly been shocking and shameful,” Block said in a statement. “UCLA supports peaceful protest, but not activism that harms our ability to carry out our academic mission and makes people in our community feel bullied, threatened and afraid.”

Aidan Doyle, a UCLA student protesting in support of Palestine, told NewsNation he had items, including a battery, thrown at him while standing outside of the encampment. About half an hour later, Doyle said, a group of people tried to take something from the encampment, but he held onto it. Counter-protesters, Doyle said, then dragged him away and started whipping him on the back with sticks, throwing a rock on his eye and pepper spraying him.

“They slashed my arm and got a deep cut,” Doyle said. When he was walking back to the encampment, they threw a hammer at his leg.

It was painful, Doyle said, but he was able to get treated for his injuries — before being pepper sprayed again.

“It was definitely one of the most painful things I’ve ever been through,” Doyle said. “The pepper spray drips down to my neck and onto my body. I have rashes on my neck and on my chest.”

Still, Doyle said, what happened did not weaken the resolve of those at the Palestine encampment — “completely the opposite,” in fact, he told NewsNation.

“There is an enormous amount of solidarity,” he said. “I don’t think we’re ever going to leave before some sort of change happens with UCLA and their financial ties to Israel.”

Los Angeles’ chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a statement, condemned what they said were “violent attacks by a mob of pro-Israel extremists on UCLA’s peaceful anti-genocide student encampment.”

Several people were injured, CAIR-LA said in the statement, where it called on law enforcement to identify and prosecute those responsible for the assaults.

“Last night’s attack on UCLA students supporting Palestine was only the latest incident of violence against them. In recent days, pro-Israel extremists directed racial slurs and sexual threats at students, spat on a student, and released a pack of mice into the encampment,” CAIR-LA Director Hussam Ayloush said. Ayloush added that other student protesters for Palestine have been met with a “campaign of disinformation, discrimination and now disturbing violence.”

“This must end,” Ayloush said. “If students advocating for Palestinian rights and against genocide had engaged in a fraction of the violence perpetrated by the far-right Israeli government’s supporters, there would have been a national outcry.”

The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles denounced the attacks as well, writing in a statement that they blamed the UCLA administration’s “lack of leadership” for allowing an environment that “enabled the chaos we witnessed last night,” KTLA said.

“We are appalled at the violence that took place on the campus of UCLA last night. The
abhorrent actions of a few counter-protestors last night do not represent the Jewish
community or our values,” the Jewish Federation said. “We believe in peaceful, civic discourse.”

Politicians monitoring UCLA’s situation

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, in a statement on X, said the violence between protest groups is “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable.”

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote that the right to free speech “does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus.”

“Those who engage in illegal behavior must be held accountable for their actions — including through criminal prosecution, suspension, or expulsion,” Newsom said.

He went on to criticize what he said was a “limited and delayed” campus law enforcement response at UCLA, saying it was “unacceptable” and “demands answers.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also responded to the protests Wednesday morning. He said that Gaza is “the world’s dominant issue.”

“The issue of Gaza must not be allowed to be downgraded from being the world’s dominant issue. Pressure on the Zionist regime must keep increasing day by day,” Khamenei wrote on X.

This development comes just hours after the New York Police Department arrested and cleared about 30 to 40 protesters from a barricaded building on Columbia University’s campus in Manhattan.

Columbia University issued a shelter-in-place order Tuesday evening as scores of police officers in riot gear swarmed near the New York City campus while protesters continued to occupy a building to demonstrate against the Israel-Hamas war.

Demonstrations across the nation

Universities across the U.S. have been grappling with how to deal with encampments as commencement ceremonies approach, with some continuing negotiations and others turning to force and ultimatums that have resulted in clashes with police.

The number of arrests at campuses nationwide is approaching 1,000 as the final days of class wrap up.

The outcry is forcing colleges to reckon with their financial ties to Israel as well as their support for free speech. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

Protesters have said, though, that those being antisemitic do not represent them and pointed out that many Jewish students are joining them in their cause.

Some student demonstrators held signs saying “Jews for Free Palestine” or “Jews for Palestine,” while pictures on social media circulated of Passover seders being held at the encampments.

The Associated Press and NewsNation local affiliate KTLA contributed to this article.