A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a man injured during 2024 Gaza war protests at UCLA, saying he had been given previous chances to amend his suit and failed to make changes that would allow it to move forward.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Samantha Jessner issued her ruling on Tuesday in the premises liability/dangerous condition suit brought against the UC Regents by Yousef Khafaja. The plaintiff alleged that he was beaten by counter-protesters on May 1, 2024, and that UCLA was liable, in part because it put up barricades across campus that forced him into a trap with a hostile group.
But in her ruling, the judge found that Khafaja’s arguments were contradicted when he also claimed that the barricades were necessary for the safety of the protesters.
Khafaja also alleged that he did not expect to find himself in a dangerous condition because television cameras were present and due to UCLA holding itself out as a beacon of free speech. He also contended that he assumed he would be safe because of the presence of UCLA security assisted by local police.
But Jessner wrote that she found that argument unconvincing, noting that Khafaja found the campus “charged with tension” when he arrived.
“In this environment, the danger that plaintiff would himself become a victim of the violence was readily apparent,” Jessner wrote. “And because the danger was readily apparent, plaintiff was not, at the time of his injury, using the UCLA campus with due care as a matter of law.”
Jessner heard arguments on Khafaja’s lawsuit as well as others on Jan. 8 and took the cases under submission at that time.
In his lawsuit brought in May 2024, Khafaja says he was a first-time protester the day he was hurt. He contended that as the demonstrations continued, tensions escalated and violence occurred, UCLA was aware of the growing danger. Requests for additional law-enforcement assistance were cancelled or delayed despite reports that existing personnel were insufficient, the suit further stated.
Khafaja contended that he was pulled into a confined barricaded space by a group of counter-protesters, then pepper-sprayed and struck with a metal object. Security personnel did not intervene to help him due to the property configuration and the restricted access conditions, Khafaja alleged.
Khafaja suffered emotional and psychological harm in addition to head and neck trauma, according to his suit.