A group of activists announced a lawsuit against UCLA on Thursday, alleging that the university failed to protect protesters who were attacked at a pro-Palestinian encampment last year.
The California Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations held a news conference near UCLA’s Luskin Conference Center where plaintiffs detailed the alleged trauma they endured when counterprotesters attacked the encampment on April 30, 2024, and at other points during their demonstrations.
Last spring, pro-Palestinian demonstrators built an encampment in the middle of campus to protest Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians. The encampment blocked access to some campus buildings, and Jewish students complained it created a hostile environment.
Only minor scuffles were reported as the encampment grew for several days. Then, on the evening of April 30, pro-Israel counter-protesters attacked the encampment, resulting in a skirmish that lasted several hours before police moved in.
The following day, university police, along with other law enforcement agencies, forcefully cleared the encampment, resulting in several arrests.
“It was immediately apparent that there was not a semblance of protection for the physical safety of the encampment members, and the mob had successfully transformed a peaceful, interfaith community into a site of horror,” the lawsuit alleges.
The uproar over the university’s handling of the protests resulted in the replacement of UCLA’s chief of police.
A scathing independent report was released in November, claiming that UCLA had “institutional paralysis” during the events. Several members of law enforcement told interviewers that they didn’t know who was in charge while violence erupted on campus and that briefings on the situation were inadequate.
It wasn’t clear what the California Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations was seeking in its lawsuit.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice launched a civil investigation into the University of California system over allegations of systematic antisemitism on its campuses related to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.