“Dark chapter”: Day of violence and tension on UCLA campus after attack on protesters

The campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) was filled with tension this Wednesday and there were also moments of violence. This, after an attack the previous night against the growing group of pro-Palestine protesters who were installed in a camp in the heart of the prestigious university.

During the afternoon, the university authorities ordered the protester camp to be dissolved. Classes on campus had already been suspended by then. And as the hours passed, there began to be greater mobilization of police. Until 1 am local time this Thursday, the tension remained, but there had been no eviction.

Dozens of people arrived on Tuesday night and beat some of the protesters who began camping in front of the emblematic Royce Hall on Thursday of the previous week. in protest against Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The attack occurred before a very limited presence of security elements on campus.

It was not until several hours later that police began to arrive at UCLA and eventually order was maintained. In addition to protesters, other members of the university community were attacked, including some guards.

The incidents at UCLA add to those that have occurred in recent days at other universities across the country, including violent episodes at USC also in Los Angeles and Columbia in New York.

Gene D. Block, chancellor of UCLA, called the incidents “a dark chapter in the history of our campus.” In a statement, Block said: “I can assure you that we will conduct a thorough investigation that could lead to arrests, expulsions and firings. “We are also carefully examining our own security processes in light of recent events.”

The actions of the UCLA authorities on Tuesday night were criticized, especially for the lack of security and the slowness of other police forces to come to the defense of the community.

Dressed in black and with white masks they came to attack

UCLA informed students via email that All classes for this Wednesday were canceled and that police officers would remain in the main buildings next to the camp and through the social network X encouraged people to avoid the area where the clashes occurred. Some had occurred on a smaller scale since Sunday.

Police were deployed early Wednesday “due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment (set up by pro-Palestinian protesters) on their campus,” according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on social media.

The intervention occurred after Groups of pro-Israel protesters dressed in black and with white masks confronted the students last night set up in a camp on the university campus to protest Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Through social networks, the office of the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, reported that after the events in New York they mobilized the Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to support universities that requested assistance and that they had created a “ robust Law Enforcement Mutual Aid System” in cases where the capacity of local and campus police is exceeded.

Slogans against war in Gaza in Labor Day parades

The call to “ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip was held this Wednesday in the march on the occasion of International Labor Day that took place in Hollywoodwhere better protections for employees and legalization for millions of undocumented immigrants were also demanded.

The cry of “unity and solidarity” was the driving force of thousands of immigrants and workers who took to the streets of Hollywood today, to fulfill a call that for years has been called on May Day in the US in Los Angeles.

Although the call has been characterized by the request for legalization of undocumented immigrants and respect for their rights, this year the march gave space for protesters to speak out in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

“We are here to send the message that we want to stop the war we see in Gaza,” said Angélica Salas, director of the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). at the beginning of the demonstration.

The activist’s message was replicated in banners and messages calling for American funds sent to Israel to be invested “for jobs and education and not war and occupation.”

The call also focused on asking for better wages and protections for workers, legalization for nearly eleven million undocumented immigrants, who remain in the shadows, and a welcome program for refugees in the country.

“Every year that we march on May 1 we are planting the seed of justice, and this seed is going to bear fruit: the liberation of our people,” Salas emphasized.

With information from EFE.