UCLA’s much-criticized response to the violence at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the Westwood campus remains a point of contention Sunday with calls for the chancellor’s resignation and amnesty for students who were arrested.
On Saturday, more than 20 UCLA faculty members and community activists rallied at the Hammer Museum to call for the resignation of Chancellor Gene Block, the Daily Bruin reported.
Block, who is already set to step down July 31, was scheduled to attend a gala at the museum, but there were unconfirmed reports he was a no-show.
On May 23, Block is expected to testify before Congress about UCLA’s response to antisemitism on the campus and actions to protect Jewish students.
Meanwhile, the union that represents campus police officers at the 10 University of California schools blamed UCLA administrators for the delayed response to Tuesday’s fights and other violence between counter-protesters and people at the pro-Palestinian encampment.
Federated University Police Officers’ Association said Saturday that the probe by UC President Michael Drake into the university’s “planning, actions and response by law enforcement” must consider the UC’s own guidelines for response to campus protests.
“The written guidelines for roles and responsibilities make clear that senior UC administrators on each campus are solely responsible for the University’s response to campus protests; those administrators decide the objective, and campus police are only responsible for tactics in implementing those objectives,” FUPOA President Wade Stern said.
“As such, the UCLA administration owns all the fallout from the response and lack of response to this protest.”
There was no response Saturday to emails sent to UCLA and Drake’s office seeking comment.
Police moved in and cleared the weeklong pro-Palestinian encampment early Thursday, arresting 209 people. Most of those arrested were booked on suspicion of unlawful assembly, then released from custody with instructions to appear in court at a later date.
Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia said his office is committed to providing all arrestees with 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.”
No significant injuries to protesters or the hundreds of police officers who took part in the raid were reported.
Disputes between protesters at the encampment peaked overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday, when the pro-Palestinian encampment was attacked by counter-protesters supporting Israel who set of fireworks and allegedly deployed pepper spray or bear repellent. The violence prompted a cancellation of all classed at UCLA on Wednesday.
“We approached the encampment with the goal of maximizing our community members’ ability to make their voices heard on an urgent global issue,” Block said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “We had allowed it to remain in place so long as it did not jeopardize Bruins’ safety or harm our ability to carry out our mission.
“But while many of the protesters at the encampment remained peaceful, ultimately, the site became a focal point for serious violence as well as a huge disruption to our campus. Several days of violent clashes between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators put too many Bruins in harm’s way and created an environment that was completely unsafe for learning.”
Block said roughly 300 people who had been inside the campus left the area voluntarily before the mass arrests began.
The clearing of the encampment, however, gave a broader picture of the amount of damage done to the campus. The front of Royce Hall and Powell Library suffered extensive graffiti damage, some of it profane. Piles of garbage were also left behind in the former encampment area.
Cleanup crews moved into the area Thursday morning, and made relatively quick work of the garbage removal. The graffiti removal was likely to take much longer.
Campus security was also maintaining a presence on the campus, amid fears that protesters might return to the scene and try to re-establish the encampment.
Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement around midday Thursday defending the decision to clear the encampment.
“Every student deserves to be safe and live peacefully on their campus,” she said. “Harassment, vandalism and violence have no place at UCLA or anywhere in our city. My office will continue to coordinate closely with local and state law enforcement, area universities and community leaders to keep campuses safe and peaceful.”
Investigations are still pending about the university’s response to the protest and some of the violent clashes that occurred.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and other elected officials called for investigations into the university and police response. Observers said the Tuesday night attack was allowed to rage for several hours with little to no police intervention, until officers in riot gear finally moved in around 3 a.m. and restored order.
In a message to the UCLA community Wednesday afternoon, Block called the overnight clashes the result of “instigators” who came to the campus to “forcefully attack the encampment.”
But Newsom’s office called the “limited and delayed campus law enforcement response … unacceptable.”
Drake issued a statement Wednesday saying he has “requested a detailed accounting from the campus about what transpired in the early morning hours today (Wednesday).”
“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 held a special closed-door meeting Friday to discuss campus encampments and the university system’s response.
FUPOA’s Stern said some of the questions that the independent probe should answer should include:
— Whether UCLA administrators underwent the mandated annual formal training in crowd management, mediation, de-escalation techniques, the Incident Command System and police force options.
— Were simulations to rehearse response to civil disobedience scenarios conducted between campus administrators and UCLA campus police as required by the guidelines?
— Did UCLA administrators implement the required regular program for joint trainings, briefings and scenario planning with law enforcement agencies on which UCLA police were likely to call for assistance or mutual aid implemented?
— Was the reason for a delayed response by outside agencies due to the failure of UCLA administrators to have a written response plan for the outside agencies to refer to in making their response?
— Did UCLA administrators direct UC police to “stand down and stand aside” as students on campus were “repeatedly attacked and harassed by protesters before the encampment was cleared?”
Organizers of the UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment, similar to their counterparts at USC, had 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 in response 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.