Police officers were called to quell violent scenes that broke out on the UCLA campus late Tuesday as opposing groups of protesters brawled inside the pro-Palestine encampment.
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed early Wednesday that its officers were helping to “restore order and maintain public safety.” It said it was acting at the request of UCLA “due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus.”
The trouble started shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday when a group of counter-protesters surrounded the encampment, according to KABC, hours after the university declared the encampment “unlawful” and urged students to leave or face sanctions. Barricades around the encampment were torn down by counter-protesters, and people were seen throwing fireworks and using sticks as weapons during the ensuing clashes.
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As the pro-Israel counter protesters violently tore at the barricade, one protester loosed a disturbing chant, calling for a “Second Nabka!”
The chant refers to the violent ethnic cleansing of Palestinians during the Israeli war in 1948, which allowed for Israel to seize large swaths of territory across Palestine. The interaction was captured in a video posted to X by Los Angeles Times reporter Teresa Watanabe.
Shortly after the counter-protesters arrived, security officers hired by the university sought shelter in a nearby university building and refused to allow students, including journalists, to enter behind them, The Daily Bruin reported.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported that security officers were seen observing the aggression and did nothing to deescalate the situation.
Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, confirmed to the campus newspaper early Wednesday that the university had called law enforcement for immediate support.
“Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight,” Osako told the Daily Bruin. “The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end.”
It’s not yet clear how many people were injured in the fighting. A participant inside the encampment told the college newspaper that at least five people were hurt, mostly with eye injuries, and some had been “temporarily unresponsive.” The outlet also reported that both sides had released “irritant gasses” during the clashes.
The Los Angeles Times separately reported that some activists carrying lumber had tried to defend the perimeter of the encampment when masked counter-protesters attempted to tear down the barricades. It added that the pro-Palestinian protesters used pepper spray to defend themselves from the incursion.
The Times also reported that the violence continued even after law enforcement arrived at the campus and that officers failed to immediately break up the fighting.
Reporters from the The Daily Bruin, posted to X that several of their reporters were followed and attacked by a group of protesters around 3:30 a.m., but did not specify which group of protesters enacted the violent assault.
The paper also reported that a group of assailants sprayed reporters with an irritant. Another post on X from student journalist Catherine Hamilton, clarified that counter-protesters had sprayed a press group with “some sort of gas akin to pepper spray.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass similarly condemned the situation. “The violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable,” she posted on X early Wednesday. “LAPD has arrived on campus.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office also said it is “closely monitoring the situation” at the school. “Law enforcement leaders are in contact this evening and resources are being mobilized,” the office said.
In a statement before the violence, the pro-Palestinian protesters had denounced UCLA’s declaration of the encampment as unlawful. “We will not leave,” the statement read. “We will remain here until our demands are met.”
A list of five demands included with the post said the university should divest in companies and institutions “complicit in the israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide of the Palestinian people.” It also called for the school to “sever all ties with the LAPD” and cut all “UC-wide connections to israeli universities.”
The clashes in California came after officers in New York cleared a Columbia University building being occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters on Tuesday night in a dramatic operation. A spokesman for Columbia said the school had been “left with no choice” but to take action after protesters “occupied, vandalized, and blockaded” Hamilton Hall.
