LOS ANGELES, California — Roughly 100 pro-Israel vigilantes stormed the “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, sparking battles with activists.
The raid occurred after nearly a week in which UCLA not only allowed the encampment to occupy the main plaza on campus, but also allowed pro-Palestinian activists to run their own security, barring access to students and the public.
The Daily Bruin, the student newspaper, reported the clashes:
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.
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After the barricades came down, counter-protesters and protesters inside the encampment began to fight. Counter-protesters shot fireworks into the encampment just after 11 p.m., and irritant gasses were released from both sides. A Daily Bruin reporter was indirectly sprayed in the face.
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In another statement released at 3:30 a.m., protesters inside the encampment said the university has not done enough to protect students, and they repeated earlier calls for the university to meet their demands.
The Daily Bruin reported “multiple events of counter-protesters antagonizing the encampment,” but failed to note violence by the members of the encampment.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators engulfed in tear gas regroup and rebuild the barricade surrounding the encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as clashes erupt with counter protesters, in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. Clashes broke out on May 1, 2024 around pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of California, Los Angeles, as universities around the United States struggle to contain similar protests on dozens of campuses. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP) (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)
Videos had circulated for days of students, including but not limited to visibly Jewish students, being denied access to classes and walkways by masked pro-Palestinian activists excluding all but those who could show a special wristband.
On Sunday, Breitbart News was told by a UCLA security contractor that the university had delegated security to the activists. (Two days before, activists had used force to assault this journalist and exclude me from the encampment.)
Many in the Jewish community were shocked at the presence of the “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” and the apparent deference of university authorities toward it.
The area around UCLA is one of the most pro-Israel in the country. Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and Bel Air include a large number of Jewish families, especially Persian Jews, many of whom escaped the Islamic revolution in Iran.
Los Angeles is also home to a large number of Israeli expatriates.
Counter-protesters and activists had clashed from the start last Thursday, and tensions had built up for days. One prankster woke up the activists on Friday by playing Robin Williams’s monologue from Good Morning, Vietnam.
After confrontations at a pro-Israel counter-demonstration on Sunday, a pro-Israel group set up a large video screen opposite the encampment, showing video of Hamas atrocities in a continuous loop.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) — who had done nothing to protect the safety of students on campus as the activists used violence to patrol the perimeter of the encampment — issued a statement on X that he was monitoring the situation:
Our office is closely monitoring the situation at @UCLA.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) May 1, 2024
Law enforcement leaders are in contact this evening and resources are being mobilized.
Photos of the California Highway Patrol in riot gear appeared on news wires, suggesting that the state had, finally, intervened after Newsom and UC President Michael Drake had been invisible on the issue of encampments for weeks.
US Police officers face a protester as they stand guard after clashes erupted on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. Clashes broke out on May 1, 2024 around pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of California, Los Angeles, as universities around the United States struggle to contain similar protests on dozens of campuses. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
UCLA’s administration finally issued a statement on Tuesday, warning that the it had “requested law enforcement investigations into allegations of violence” by the activists at the encampment, who could face consequences.
But it was only after the pro-Israel group arrived and began storming the barricades that law enforcement moved in, separating the two sides. It remains to be seen what happens to the surviving part of the encampment going forward.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
