UCLA classes again shifted online Friday, as the campus continued to reel in the aftermath of a sprawling pro-Palestinian protest this week that sparked a mammoth police response and more than 200 arrests. Questions smoldered about the university’s response to the encampment and the counter protests that sparked violent overnight clashes.
Across Southern California, from neighboring USC to Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties, demonstrations large and small continued, fueled by demands for a cease-fire in Gaza and that schools divest from entities that do business with Israel.
At UC Riverside there was a breakthrough: Students and administrators announced the end of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment Friday morning after demonstrators and administration successfully negotiated an agreement.
Many grappled with the aftershocks of the protest at UCLA, with the UC Board of Regents planning a special closed-door meeting Friday to discuss campus encampments and the university system’s response.
Meanwhile, most of the people arrested this week at UCLA appeared to have been released from custody. According to the sheriff’s department, a total of 209 people were arrested during the law enforcement raid on the encampment, which occurred around 2:45 a.m. Thursday and ended the weeklong protest that was the scene of multiple violent clashes. Students and faculty have said roughly two dozen who were hospitalized amid the law enforcement response.
Most of those arrested in the raid were processed and booked on suspicion of unlawful assembly, then released from custody with instructions to appear in court at a later date.
“Individuals were given food, water and had access to public restrooms as they were being processed,” according to the sheriff’s department. “They were also offered reentry services and transportation services.”
Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo Garcia said in a statement Thursday that 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.”
From public comments made Thursday by county prosecutors, many will likely face only possible misdemeanor charges of unlawful assembly or failure to disperse. If so, those cases would be handled through the L.A. City Attorney’s Office.
Pressure on Administration
By Friday, it was UCLA administration that was the focus of heavy criticism, not just by students but by faculty and groups on both sides of the issue.
Members of the school’s Department of History released a statement on the department’s website levying the critique: “Members of the Department of History at UCLA are horrified that the university administration has continued to disregard our students’ safety and their right to express their views,” they wrote. “The university went from permitting a violent mob to attack our students (on 4/30 to 5/1) to authorizing law enforcement to brutalize the same students (on 5/2).”
The faculty criticism echoes students and other groups that have criticized the university and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block for their response to the protest and the classes with counter-protesters that led to violence.
Block has vowed an investigation at the UCLA level, and UC President Michael Drake has also pledged a review, folllowing a delayed police response to clashes overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and other elected officials have called for investigations into pro-Israeli counter-protesters’ attack that 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.”
On Thursday, Block, who has served as chancellor since 2007 and had announced months ago he was stepping down from the job in July, said the university “approached the encampment with the goal of maximizing our community members’ ability to make their voices heard on an urgent global issue. 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, he added, the encampment became “a focal point for serious violence as well as a huge disruption to our campus,” and so, officials decided early Thursday to direct UC police and outside law enforcement officers to enter and clear the encampment.
It was the law enforcement response earlier in the week that did not sit well with members of the faculty.
“Our colleagues observed that the LAPD advanced on the student encampment, pushing and herding them, using the tactic of kettling,” alleged faculty in their statement. “Forced closely together, the students made easy targets for police who shot them with stun grenades, chemical agents, and rubber bullets. Police beat them with batons and shot them with rubber bullets, striking one student in the face with a rubber bullet.
“At least 25 students had to be hospitalized. They then arrested approximately 200 students, staff, faculty, dragging visibly injured students away. This wanton use of potentially lethal force culminated in the complete destruction of the encampment.”
The professors — 33 who signed the statement — added that Block’s message to the community after the event “seriously misrepresented these matters.”
Among demands, they called on UCLA to refrain from disciplinary actions against peaceful protesters and employees, the university’s advocacy on behalf of legal support for protesters, the payment of medical bills for protesters, “a serious engagement on the part of the university with the demands of protesters on the matter of disclosure and broad divestment from military weapons production companies and systems,” and a promise that the search for a new chancellor as Block steps down will address the issues the protests spurred, such as free expression and protection of students.
Jeffrey Abrams, the Anti-Defamation League’s L.A. regional director, offered a sharp rebuke of Chancellor Block and his administration at a morning news conference Friday at UCLA Hillel. He said the university’s lack of leadership created a culture that allowed antisemitism to flourish on campus even before the Hamas attack on Israel in October.
Abrams said the ADL is demanding that Block ensures that people who violated university policy or the law face consequences for their actions, adding that policies need to
“Chancellor Block needs to take a position now,” Abrams said. “Chancellor Block has a chance to save his legacy, but it requires immediate action,” Abrams continued. “We need it. The Jewish community needs it. The UCLA community needs it. The city of Los Angeles needs it.”
Richard Hirschhaut, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Los Angeles chapter, condemned the violence by pro-Israel counter-demonstrators, which he said further endangered students and runs counter to Jewish values.
Moving forward, he called on UCLA to hold workshops on antisemitism and civility as part of student orientation at the start of each school year.
But more immediately, Hirschhaut said, UCLA administrators should “assure the safety and security of all on campus,” clarify and enforce university policies regarding protests and make clear what is “free speech versus unsanctioned disruption.”
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.
Successful end at UC Riverside
In the Inland Empire, UC Riverside students and leaders announced the end of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment Friday after a successful negotiation.
Chancellor Kim Wilcox told students Friday that the peaceful resolution was “a credit to everybody here,” and acknowledged protest leaders Hibah Nassar and Samia Alkam.
“You couldn’t have better leaders,” he said.
The sit-in began Monday, April 29 beside UCR’s Bell Tower, led by the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
Demands there also included that the university disclose its investments and funding; that it divest from companies and institutions “that are complicit in the Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide” of Palestinians; that it end its silence regarding the genocide; and that it sever ties with Israeli universities, including student exchange programs.
In Claremont, Pitzer College made history, announcing it will disclose information about its financial investments, officials said Friday.
In a memo released Friday, President Strom C. Thacker and Board of Trustees Chairperson Donald P. Gould agreed to the financial disclosure after meeting with three undisclosed students and a faculty member that morning.
Similar to demands made by students at their sister campus in Claremont, Pomona College, pro-Palestinian students at Pitzer have been pushing for divestment from Israel and disclosure of funds.
According to the groups’ statement, the agreement reached with Pitzer includes releasing information on its holdings in military and weapons manufacturers, the first such disclosure in the college’s history.
Meanwhile, the same or similar demands dotted the region at various campuses.
Two Orange County pro-Palestinian encampments, one at UC Irvine and the other at Chapman University, continued on Friday.
A Chapman spokesperson said “it was a very peaceful night and only Chapman students were allowed to remain on campus.”
Chapman student organizers created a schedule for Friday similar to Thursday’s, filled with writing letters to Palestine, chant teachings and celebrating Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, in the evening. The students’ goal is not only to pressure the university to divesting, but to also raise awareness on campus to the violence in Gaza, organizers have said.
At USC, also a private school, demonstrations within a tightly secured campus perimeter continued.
Conditions on the USC campus have remained relatively calm in recent days, a far cry from the scene last week. That’s when 93 people were arrested following a mass protest and attempted occupation of Alumni Park.
On Wednesday, dozens of USC faculty members held a march through the campus in support of protesters, calling in part for amnesty for those who were arrested last week.
The Wednesday march remained peaceful, with some students joining the faculty in the late-afternoon procession. It happened hours after a virtual meeting that was held between members of the campus Academic Senate and USC President Carol Folt, who was joined by Provost Andrew Guzman.
With commencement coming up next week, the university’s Department of Public Safety said vehicle and pedestrian access to the campus is available at the McCarthy and McClintock entrances. The entry at Watt Way is not open, but DPS officials said it or other locations may be used as exits to help relieve vehicle congestion.
Entry was still limited to students and employees with IDs. Pre-registered guests must show a QR code available from the visitor.usc.edu website, as well as a government-issued ID.
USC, which previously canceled its main stage commencement ceremony amid pro-Palestinian protests, has announced plans for a “Trojan Family Graduate Celebration” instead next week at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It’s said to be complete with a drone show, fireworks and the Trojan Marching Band.
Still, the memory of last week was not far away.
A 19-year-old Jewish student, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for her privacy, didn’t think it was necessary for riot police to show up. She said campus security could have handled the situation. She felt the school and a portion of the student body were villainizing the protesters.
“They’re just opinionated people that are passionate about something,” the female student, who is double majoring in Environmental Studies and Economics said. “I’ve never seen this type of backlash before.”
Eerily silent
Back UCLA, it was a strangely silent campus at a normally bustling time of the school year.
Classes remained virtual as the university continued to clean up Royce Quad, the defaced front exterior of Royce Hall in the distance. The area around the quad remained blocked off to the public. LAPD officers, campus police and private security guards were stationed at locations leading to the quad, and around it, to keep people out. Police kept a ubiquitous presence on campus.
Around lunchtime, Bruin Walk, which is normally teeming with foot traffic, was relatively empty, save for occasional passersby.
But despite the silence, for students such as Rachel Burnett, a fourth-year psychology and Middle Eastern studies student and the national vice president of J Street U, recent events continued to resonate.
Burnett said while she disagreed with the Palestine Solidarity Encampment’s stated goals, people have a right to protest and she was angry that no pro-Israel counter-demonstrators who engaged in violence this week were arrested.
Asked if she felt unsafe on campus over the past week, Burnett said she felt uncomfortable but not unsafe.
“I think students have a right to feel safe. Students do not have a right to feel comfortable. I think that’s part of what higher ed should be about – is learning how to be uncomfortable.”
As for the university’s response to the events that unfolded over the week, Burnett said she understands that UCLA administrators aren’t foreign policy experts and that they are in a tough spot.
“I can only imagine the kind of pressure they’re under,” she said. “With that said, I think it’s really hard to get the situation and the response right. But I also think it’s really hard to get the situation and the response this wrong,” she said.
City News Service also contributed to this article.