We get an update from the University of California, Los Angeles, where police in riot gear began dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment early Thursday, using flashbang grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas, and arresting dozens of students. The raid came just over a day after pro-Israel counterprotesters armed with sticks, metal rods and fireworks attacked students at the encampment. The Real News Network reporter Mel Buer was on the scene during the attack. She describes seeing counterprotesters provoke students, yelling slurs and bludgeoning them with parts of the encampment’s barricade, and says the attack lasted several hours without police or security intervention. ”UCLA is complicit in violence inflicted upon protesters,” wrote the editorial board of UCLA’s campus newspaper, the Daily Bruin, the next day. Four of the paper’s student journalists were targeted and assaulted by counterprotesters while covering the protests.
Archiv: Gene Block
Chancellor Block claims unsafe university conditions led to encampment closure
Chancellor Gene Block released a statement Thursday afternoon claiming that the Palestine solidarity encampment had been shut down because it led to unsafe university conditions and interfered with UCLA’s educational mission.
Block confirmed that more than 200 people were arrested, with more than 300 leaving voluntarily Thursday morning following a police sweep of the encampment. The dispersal followed an outbreak of violence on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, during which counter-protesters attacked the encampment using fireworks, tear gas and by throwing projectiles.
UCLA Pro-Palestinian Encampment Raided after Dispersal Order
Throughout the night and into the morning, students outside the encampment linked arms against the police and a small group of counter protesters, remaining peaceful. Around 1:20 a.m. police dressed in riot gear broke through the west barricade unexpectedly after a loud boom sounded from a flash-bang grenade. The protestors quickly formed a human chain, slowly pushing forward, and shouting “peaceful protest,” as well as phrases such as “shame on you.”
The students pushed the officers back, regaining control of the perimeter in approximately 30 minutes and rebuilding their barricades.
Police then began shooting fireworks into the air above protestors’ heads…
Delayed police response at UCLA “unacceptable,” Newsom says
Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday criticized law enforcement‘s slow response to violent brawls that broke out between pro-Palestinian protesters and counter demonstrators on the UCLA campus Tuesday night.
“The limited and delayed campus law enforcement response at UCLA last night was unacceptable – and it demands answers,” Newsom said in a statement. “As soon as it became clear that the state assistance was needed to support a local response, our office immediately deployed CHP personnel to campus.”
Editorial: UCLA is complicit in violence inflicted upon protesters, failed to protect
This came after a source in the encampment told the Daily Bruin that at least five protestors have been injured.
But for hours, UCLA administration stood by and watched as the violence escalated. LAPD did not arrive on the scene until slightly after 1 a.m. – once Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass sent them in for assistance at Block’s request.
Daily Bruin reporters on the scene were slapped and indirectly sprayed with irritants. Despite also being students, they were offered no protection.
The world is watching.
UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment Press Release
For over seven hours, zionist aggressors hurled gas canisters, sprayed pepper spray, and threw fireworks and bricks into our encampment. They broke our barriers repeatedly, clearly in an attempt to kill our community.
Campus safety left within minutes, external security the university hired for “backup” watched, filmed, and laughed on the side as the immediate danger inflicted upon us escalated. Law enforcement simply stood at the edge of the lawn and refused to budge as we screamed for their help. The only means of protection we had was each other. WE KEEP EACH OTHER SAFE.
UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment Press Release
For over seven hours, zionist aggressors hurled gas canisters, sprayed pepper spray, and threw fireworks and bricks into our encampment. They broke our barriers repeatedly, clearly in an attempt to kill our community.
Campus safety left within minutes, external security the university hired for “backup” watched, filmed, and laughed on the side as the immediate danger inflicted upon us escalated. Law enforcement simply stood at the edge of the lawn and refused to budge as we screamed for their help. The only means of protection we had was each other. WE KEEP EACH OTHER SAFE.
Despite the danger, we refused to engage standing by the principles of our encampment—self defense. For all the school’s pretense of student safety, we have experienced an unprecedented amount of violence and hatred while they stood by. The university’s hypocrisy all too apparent, as signs of this escalation were reported, documented, and indicated early on. The zionist attacks, their use of chemical weaponry, their hatred, their destruction, are but a microcosm of the genocide in Gaza. The university would rather see us dead than divest.
Fight breaks out at UCLA; Fireworks thrown at pro-Palestine tents
Multiple fights broke out in dueling protests between Israel and Palestine protesters.
Pro-Israel counter-protesters attempt to storm encampment, sparking violence
Fireworks, tear gas and fights broke out just after 10:50 p.m. Tuesday night and continued early Wednesday morning as around 100 pro-Israel counter-protesters attempted to seize the barricade around and storm the ongoing Palestine solidarity encampment in Dickson Plaza.
The chaos comes as Chancellor Gene Block faces criticism for improper handling of the encampment and the same day the university deemed the encampment to be unlawful, threatening students inside with suspension and expulsion. Security and UCPD both retreated as pro-Israel counter-protesters and other groups attacked protesters in the encampment – led by Students for Justice in Palestine and UC Divest Coalition at UCLA – that followed similar ones across the country.