Hundreds of law enforcement officers in riot gear cleared out a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Thursday, firing flash bangs and dismantling barriers.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block released a statement Thursday confirming that 200 people were arrested. UCLA associate professor Graeme Blair told LAist that around 10 of those arrested were faculty members.
After initially forming a line and holding it, officers began to move more aggressively before 5 a.m., pushing back protesters holding makeshift shields and lobbing items at the police line.
In short order, they cleared dozens of protesters who had set up on the front portico of Royce Hall, where pro-Palestinian graffiti had been spray painted on the ornate stone doorways and scores of flyers taped on pillars and screwed into the barricaded front doors. By 5:15 a.m. the encampment was clear, with only a small contingent of protesters remaining.
The initial police action began about nine hours after the first order to disperse was made. Law enforcement first declared the protest an unlawful assembly about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday night.
Then by around 3:15 a.m. Thursday, officers began breaking down tents and dismantling plywood boards to remove a makeshift barrier wall erected by protesters in the week since the encampment went up.
By the time CHP officers removed most barricades along the east side of the encampment, the number of protesters had thinned significantly in the early morning hours.
Earlier, the LAPD told LAist that the CHP would be leading the operation, but the department and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department also had a heavy presence on campus. Many students said ahead of the move by police that they were willing to be arrested.
Block, who held a special UCLA Alumni Town Hall on Thursday, said the protests had been overall peaceful, but that the encampment became a focal point for serious violence.
"It left us with very strong feelings. The fact that the encampment represents not only a risk to the students inside the encampment, because it's very hard to protect their security unless you have a very large number of police continually guarding the encampment," Block said during the virtual town hall.
When asked if university disciplinary action would be taken, Block said it’ll be on a case by case basis.
“It's very different, obviously someone who's actively resistant and may have even, you know, really assaulted to a police officer though. Some of those are quite serious and should have consequences clearly” Block said. “I should emphasize students were all free to leave before they became arrested. They were told to leave the encampment, and many did just walk out and leave. So this was really a choice. It wasn't the police surrounding them and they (were) stuck. They could leave.”
The university will also continue to investigation the attack overnight Tuesday by counterprotesters and the security measures employed, Block said.
As a police helicopter circled overhead for hours, many people on campus wore face masks. Some even had gas masks, saying they were worried police or counterprotesters would use tear gas or pepper spray on them.
The move to clear the encampment came after a night of violence from Tuesday into Wednesday.
UCLA canceled classes Wednesday after students and journalists reported that counterprotesters attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, leading to more than a dozen injuries. Then, Wednesday evening, UCLA officials said classes would be remote Thursday and Friday and employees were "encouraged to work remotely." They also advised people to avoid Royce Quad, where the protests are taking place.
UC President Michael Drake, who oversees the University of California system, said Wednesday that he ordered an independent outside review of UCLA's planning and actions surrounding the overnight violence between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counterprotesters.
As officers moved around outside of the encampment — an area fortified by plywood — protesters and observers remained largely calm.
Many people inside the encampment wore construction, bicycle or other types of helmets in anticipation of another confrontation with pro-Israeli counterprotesters or police.
“Most people are getting ready in case the cops try to do something violent against them,” said Mahmoud Abobaker, a 28-year-old film and TV major who is Palestinian American. “Everybody is expecting something.”
The mood was at once anxious and festive, with a couple of drummers and a trumpet playing near one end of the camp. Others chanted slogans in support of Palestine. A small group of Muslims got on their knees as a man chanted the traditional call to prayer over a bullhorn.
Several Palestinian flags blew in a light breeze. Many wore Keffiyehs.
Some people lounged inside their tents. Others walked about the encampment visiting with friends. Still others secured the plywood they’d put up on around the perimeter.
Around 10 p.m., a large number of people not involved in the camp rallied outside of it in support of the students.
All the while, majestic Royce Hall, much of it covered in pro-Palestinian graffiti and signage, stood witness to it all.
Sarah Adams, who works for UCLA’s humanities department, said she was on the outskirts of the encampment in the early hours of Thursday “to watch out for our students and protect them and be there for them as best as we could.”
“A lot of us are tired, we're angry, we're upset at our university, we're upset at the way that students who pay tuition and staff and faculty who give their labor, who care so much about the school, the way that we've been treated by our school,” Adams, a trained medic, said.
Blair, an associate professor of political science, was one of the faculty members arrested during the dispersal.
He said he shared a jail bus with some of the arrested students and was “amazed by their resilience in the face of the horrible, violent attacks by outsiders and their focus on their mission.”
Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement Wednesday that she met with various law enforcement agencies, including LAPD and UCPD, about the “absolutely detestable violence on campus.”
“There must be a full investigation into what occurred on campus last night,” Bass said in a statement. “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. I want to make sure the message I delivered to law enforcement and other officials earlier today is clear: Free speech will be protected. Violence and bigotry will not.”
In his statement, Drake said the external review would also look at the effectiveness of the mutual aid response and will help address many immediate questions and guide possible future events,.
“Through the early morning hours, mutual aid was summoned from the LAPD and others to help UCLA restore control,” Drake said. “Unfortunately, there are a reported 15 injuries, including one hospitalization. The situation has been stabilized and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block has reiterated that, having declared the encampment unlawful yesterday, he will dismantle it at the appropriate time. My office has requested a detailed accounting from the campus about what transpired in the early morning hours today.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that the violence started close to midnight when a large group of counterprotesters tried to tear down the makeshift barricades surrounding the encampment.
Videos sent to LAist from students on the ground show the counterprotesters launching fireworks into the encampment and using what appears to be bear spray at the pro-Palestinian protesters. Television news footage and images on social media showed some students bleeding from wounds and flushing their faces with water.
Felicia Ford of Inglewood told LAist she arrived shortly after midnight and saw people fighting with bats and poles. She also said fireworks were thrown into the encampment.
"That's not what represents the people that are protesting for a change of what's going on in Israel and the Gaza Strip," she said, adding that once police arrived, they "shut it all down."
Officers in riot gear reportedly arrived around 1:40 a.m., but students said they did not immediately intervene as counterprotesters continued to attack the camp.
Raymond Durr, a third-year student studying data theory and economics, said counterprotesters have been the agitators.
"The pro-Palestinians are the ones who get punished with threats by the chancellor of disciplinary action, including expulsion, because of the general violence, but we're not the ones causing the violence, so why are we the ones who are getting punished?” said Durr, who identifies as half-Palestinian.
He added that he’s happy with the increased police presence on campus.
"I hope that they stay the night to stop the (pro) Israeli counterprotesters from attacking the encampment," he said.
Tai Min, a 20-year-old sociology major, told LAist that a mob of hundreds of people descended on the encampment with weapons.
“We have folks who had to get sent to the ER,” Min said. “We had a lot of folks who were pepper sprayed, bear maced. There’s folks in the ER with like blunt force trauma.”
The UCLA First Thursdays event scheduled for May 2 in Wilson Plaza has been canceled because of the “distress following the violence on Royce Quad and ongoing tension regarding campus demonstrations,” the university announced Wednesday afternoon.
The encampment on UCLA's campus was set up last Thursday, with pro-Palestinian demonstrators demanding an end to Israel's assault on Gaza and divestment by the university from companies. Unlike an earlier encampment across town at USC, UCLA protesters fortified their area with plywood and pallets.
On Sunday night, pro-Israeli protesters set up a counter protest that included a giant screen playing images of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
After some clashes Sunday, a university spokesperson said UCLA would increase security measures. In addition to canceling classes for Wednesday, the university said Royce Hall and Powell Library would remain closed.
Reporters on the ground, including student journalists from the student-run Daily Bruin newspaper, say law enforcement was called in but did not intervene until after the violence broke out. LAist has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department for comment.
It has been 4 hours since the violence erupted on campus. This violence has been allowed to continue, instigated and continued by counter-protesters, unstopped. Injuries all night long. Cops are watching it continue right now. This is a colossal failure by the powers that be. pic.twitter.com/HOxSzVGYTk
— Joey Scott (@joeyneverjoe) May 1, 2024
According to the Daily Bruin, the university declared the encampment “unlawful and violates university policy.”
In a message to the Bruin community on Wednesday afternoon, Chancellor Gene Block said:
“However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty, and community members was utterly unacceptable. 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, “I want to express my sincere sympathy to those who were injured last night, and to all those who have been harmed or have feared for their safety in recent days. No one at this university should have to encounter such violence. Our student affairs team has been reaching out to affected individuals and groups to offer support and connections to health and mental health resources.”
Block said in the statement they will conduct a thorough investigation that may lead to arrests, expulsions, and dismissals. He noted that they’re also carefully examining UCLA’s security processes and encouraged people who’ve encountered violence to report their experiences to UCPD, and those who’ve faced discrimination to contact the campuses’ Civil Rights Office.
“This is a dark chapter in our campus’s history,” Block said in a statement. “We will restore a safe learning environment at UCLA.”
But some students said they haven't heard from the university about the injuries they sustained.
Aidan Doyle, a philosophy and jazz student, told LAist he had a battery thrown at his right cheek.
"As I was trying to keep the metal barriers attached to the barricade, I was dragged out into a group of six men who whipped my back, who attacked me with sticks, who punched my face, and who slashed me with a sharp metal rod," he said.
Aisha Syed, who is part of UCLA's Muslim Student Association, described the pepper spray and fireworks as causing "a burning sensation in my eyes, my mouth, and my throat. It settled into my hijab and into my other clothing, so much so that when I finally went home hours later, that stinging feeling was still there."
Nancy Mithlo, a professor who teaches gender studies, told LAist that she’s disappointed in how UCLA has handled the protests.
“They refused to protect our students that were engaging in civil disobedience, were engaging in their right to free speech, that were doing actually what we want them to do here,” Mithlo said.
A group of faculty and staff are demanding in a letter to Block that peaceful protesting students do not face disciplinary action and that the encampment be allowed to continue without an “illegal” designation. The letter concludes by warning that a one-day work stoppage has already been proposed by the Faculty for Justice in Palestine group as they’re prepared to deepen their support for students.
In an interview Wednesday morning with NPR, reporter Steve Futterman said "things have really calmed down" after high tension overnight.
"A few hours ago it was anything but," he said, "there were pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israeli counterprotesters essentially facing off. There were numerous scuffles, lots of pushing fist fights, nasty words exchanged."
Samuel Ahmed, a first-year graduate student who is part of UCLA's encampment, told LAist that the community within the camp is feeling "more resolute and more willing to fight for what we're fighting for.”
Ahmed said the violence started around 10 p.m. Tuesday when masked counterprotesters showed up to the encampment, which he said is made up of about 300 tents.
"All of a sudden, people, 30 or 40 students [in the pro-Palestinian camp], just fall to the ground covering their eyes screaming for help," he said. "From there, it was just a nonstop onslaught, a barrage of weaponry just attacked at us, bricks just slamming at our barriers. This persisted for several hours while the university police, the private security they had hired to somehow keep the peace, just stood idly by watching."
Students inside the encampment were starting to wake up shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, with one person picking up trash and a strong skunk smell lingering in the air.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said in statements that his office was closely monitoring the situation at UCLA and that he condemns the violence that unfolded.
"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."
Bass said she’s spoken with Newsom and thanked him for his continued support.
Amir Mertaban, the executive director of Islamic Society of Orange County reached UCLA at around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. He said community leaders in the Muslim community were responding after receiving multiple calls, messages, and texts from students in the encampments.
“I saw was something that I never thought I would ever see in L.A. and that was students getting attacked, and at night, with the lights on, masked students with pepper spray, bear spray, mace, pipes, bats,” Mertaban said. “I never thought I would see this level of violent attacks on students at UCLA, while UCPD, the LAPD, the Sheriffs, Highway Patrol, all had their backs turned while this was happening right behind them.”
Many of the students, he said, had to be transported to hospital by car.
Mertaban added that doctors from the Muslim community also rushed to UCLA overnight to set up a makeshift medic tent within the encampment with milk, saline and other supplies.
“The Muslims, Palestinians and their supporters are concerned for the safety of our communities,” he said. “We haven't seen this vitriol and violence since 9/11.”
Mertaban said he visited the encampment over the weekend too and “nothing violent is happening.”
UCLA Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
LAist reporters Yusra Farzan and Frank Stoltze reported from the campus throughout the day. Stoltze remained on the scene until late Wednesday. Makenna Sievertson reported from LAist's newsroom. Farzan wrote and reported earlier in the morning from sources at the camp and official statements. Karina Gacad, Tiffany Ujiiye, Megan Garvey and Jason Wells have done editing on this breaking news coverage.
This is a developing story. We fact check everything and rely only on information from credible sources (think fire, police, government officials, community organizers and reporters on the ground). We do our best to verify the information being provided is accurate. Sometimes, however, we make mistakes and/or initial reports turn out to be wrong. In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.
