A large contingent of law enforcement amassed on the UCLA campus Wednesday evening in apparent preparation for an operation to dismantle the week-old encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters, which was labeled an “unlawful” assembly by university officials Tuesday.
At about 6 p.m. Wednesday, university police made an announcement over campus loudspeakers, re-stating that the encampment is an unlawful assembly and ordering the large group to disperse. The announcement was rebroadcast every 30 minutes into the evening hours, but there was no sign of movement from any of the protesters.
It was unclear when — or if — police would make a move against the encampment.
The Los Angeles Police Department went on a citywide tactical alert Thursday night, keeping all officers on duty beyond their shifts. Hundreds of officers — along with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, campus police and California Highway Patrol officers — were deployed either directly to the campus or to the nearby West Los Angeles federal building, where multiple mobile-command vehicles were stationed, along with at least a half-dozen sheriff’s inmate-transport buses.
Protest organizers issued a statement early Wednesday evening calling on the community to come to the campus to help defend the encampment. Protesters said they were “ready to stand firm against an institution who would see us destroyed — the very institution that claims to care for `student safety’ and the very institution that encouraged last night’s Zionist assault” — referencing an attack on the encampment late Tuesday night by counter-protesters that led to violent clashes into the early morning hours of Wednesday.
As the law enforcement presence mounted Wednesday evening, hundreds of protest supporters gathered on the outskirts of the encampment, many of them locking arms in an effort to block law enforcement from approaching the protesters.
By about 8:30 p.m., police in riot gear had formed a skirmish line about 100 feet from the encampment boundary, which was fortified throughout the day by protesters who used sheets of wood to form a makeshift wall. But police made no immediate approach to the encampment. Some observers speculated that police might wait until the early morning hours to dismantle the encampment, in hopes many of the people who had gathered in support of the protesters would disperse overnight.
Classes were canceled at the university on Wednesday following the violence the night before, and possibly in anticipation of police action against the encampment. Operations at the Westwood campus will be “limited” on Thursday and Friday, with all classes ordered to be held remotely. All campus employees were “encouraged to work remotely wherever possible.”
Tuesday night’s violence erupted shortly before midnight when a group of counter-protesters launched an offensive against the encampment, launching fireworks into to toward the encampment and trying to tear away parts of the camp’s wooden barriers.
People were seen attacking others with sticks, while fist-fights and wrestling matches ensued, and the violence continued seemingly unchecked by police. Pepper spray or bear repellent was also reportedly deployed.
Police in riot gear eventually moved in around 3 a.m. and managed to separate the warring factions and restore order. There were no reports of any arrests.
The Los Angeles Fire Department reported taking one man in his mid-20s to a hospital for treatment of head injury. But protest organizers said Wednesday that more than a dozen protesters were injured and required hospital treatment, many of them for the effects of pepper spray or bear repellent.
In a message to the UCLA community Wednesday afternoon, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block called the overnight clashes the result of “instigators” who came to the campus to “forcefully attack the encampment.”
“However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable,” Block said. “It has shaken our campus to its core and — adding to other abhorrent incidents that we have witnessed and that have circulated on social media over the past several days — further damaged our community’s sense of security.”
He added: “We are still gathering information about the attack on the encampment last night, and I can assure you that we will conduct a thorough investigation that may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals. We are also carefully examining our own security processes in light of recent events. … This is a dark chapter in our campus’ history. We will restore a safe learning environment at UCLA.”
Multiple officials — led by Gov. Gavin Newsom — demanded answers about why law enforcement appeared to delay its response to the clashes Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. Newsom’s office called the “limited and delayed campus law enforcement response … unacceptable.”
“The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism or lawlessness on campus,” Newsom said in a statement. “Those who engage in illegal behavior must be held accountable for their actions — including through criminal prosecution, suspension or expulsion.”
Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Hollywood, whose district includes the campus, said, “While we continue to gather all the facts, one thing is abundantly clear: the UCLA Administration has failed in their most important duty — to protect the safety, wellbeing, and civil rights of all students on campus.”
In a statement issued shortly after midnight, as the violence was raging, Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA strategic communications, said, “Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end.”
University of California President Michael V. Drake issued a statement Wednesday saying he has “requested a detailed accounting from the campus about what transpired in the early morning hours today.”
“But some confusion remains. Therefore, we are also ordering an independent external review of both UCLA’s planning and actions, and the effectiveness of the mutual aid response. Such a review will help us address many immediate questions but also help guide us in possible future events.”
The UC Board of Regents has scheduled a special closed-door meeting for Friday to discuss campus encampments and the university system’s response.
UCLA officials warned participants in the campus encampment Tuesday that students and staff could face disciplinary action, including suspension, expulsion or termination, while people unaffiliated with the university could face misdemeanor criminal charges.
It was unclear how many of the pro-Palestinian protesters in the encampment were actually UCLA students. More than 50 tents were inside the encampment walls.
Mayor Karen Bass, who cut short a lobbying trip to Washington D.C. to return to Los Angeles in response to the overnight violence, said she took part in a meeting Wednesday morning with various law enforcement agencies on the campus to discuss “the absolutely detestable violence on campus last night.”
She said there must be “a full investigation into what occurred on campus last night. Those involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals and physically assaulting others will be found, arrested, and prosecuted, as well as anyone involved in any form of violence or lawlessness.”
In response to criticism of the police response to the campus violence, the Federated University Police Officers’ Association issued a statement on behalf of officers at the 10 police departments in the UC system. The association insisted that decisions about police response to campus violence “rest firmly in the hands of campus leadership.”
“The shoulder the accountability for the outcomes stemming from these decisions, not the UC Police Department,” according to the group. “… The campus leadership, not law enforcement, owns the results of their decisions.”
The Jewish Federation Los Angeles issued a statement Wednesday morning condemning the violence.
“The abhorrent actions of a few counter-protesters last night do not represent the Jewish community or our values. We believe in peaceful, civic discourse. Unfortunately, the violence at UCLA is a result of the lack of leadership from the chancellor and the UCLA administration,” the group’s statement continued. “The chancellor has allowed for an environment to be created over many months that has made students feel unsafe, allowed for illegal encampments in violation of its own laws, refused to censure faculty and staff who flouted UCLA’s Code of Conduct, and has been systemically slow to respond when law enforcement is desperately needed. His failed leadership has enabled the chaos we witnessed last night.”
The group called on the chancellor to close the encampment at UCLA immediately.
The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, meanwhile, issued a statement Wednesday morning condemning the “mob of pro-Israel extremist” who attacked the encampment.
“Free speech should never be met with crimes of hate,” according to CAIR. “The pro-Israel extremists responsible for last night’s violence must be identified and prosecuted.”
The group also called for an investigation into the “lack of response” by campus and Los Angeles police to the violence
“If (protesters) 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,” according to the group. “… This must end. UCLA and other schools must ensure that (protesters) can continue to peacefully protest the genocide in Gaza without facing attacks by violent pro-Israel mobs.”
Drake, the UC president, had issued a statement Tuesday saying he “fully” supported UCLA declaring the encampment unlawful.
“The University of California must be as flexible as it can involving matters of free expression, including expression of viewpoints that some find deeply offensive,” Drake said. “But when that expression blocks the ability of students to learn or to express their own viewpoints, when it meaningfully disrupts the functioning of the university, or when it threatens the safety of students, or anyone else, we must act.”
Organizers of the UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment, similar to their counterparts at USC, issued a list of demands last week calling for divestment of all University of California and UCLA Foundation funds from companies tied to Israel, along with a demand that the university call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and begin an academic boycott against Israeli universities, including a suspension of study-abroad programs.
The UC issued a statement noting that the university has “consistently opposed calls for boycott against and divestment from Israel. While the university affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints, a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses.
“UC tuition and fees are the primary funding sources for the University’s core operations. None of these funds are used for investment purposes,” the statement continued.
Block, who is stepping down as chancellor at the end of July, is expected to testify before Congress on May 23 about the campus’ response to antisemitism and actions to protect Jewish students.