UCLA students describe violent attack on Gaza protest encampment: ‘It was terrifying’ | US campus protests
Uhen Meghna Nair, a second-year student at the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles, saw a masked group of people heading toward the pro-Palestinian camp on campus late Tuesday night, she expected trouble.
“I knew where they were going. I had an idea of what they were planning to do,” she said. “I did not know what to do.”
But the violence that unfolded on the state university’s campus overnight and the authorities’ slow response shocked Nair and other UCLA students.
Late Tuesday night, a masked group surrounded the camp in solidarity with Gaza, throwing fireworks and violently attacking students. Students and reporters from multiple outlets said security forces hired by the university locked themselves in nearby buildings and police watched for hours before intervening.
UCLA canceled all classes Wednesday, and except for the central meeting area, the normally bustling campus was nearly deserted. A helicopter hovered above them throughout the morning as groups of security guards and law enforcement stood around the divided camp. Students lingered as they walked past the barricades, looking at the scene.
Noah, a law student who preferred to use only his first name, said he was horrified by the violence, which he described as similar to a fight. “This is like sacred ground to me,” he said, pointing to the large lawn and stately brick buildings. “Remind me of January 6th. It was terrifying.”
UCLA, like universities across the country, has seen ongoing protests over the war in Gaza. Nair said the demonstrations at UCLA were largely peaceful when she attended last week, shortly after the camp was established.
“It was beautiful. It was really amazing to see so many young people come together like that on their own,” Nair said. “The amount of support and passion they had was just overflowing.”
But tensions on campus are rising, students said. Jewish students reported feeling unsafe and described some of the demonstrators’ behavior as anti-Semitic.
“It was absolute chaos and complete division,” said Logan Cyr, a law student at UCLA. “It’s so deeply politicized and so divisive.” Cyr said he has encountered anti-Semitism on campus in recent days and that people are disappointed that the university has allowed the protests to continue as they have.
Over the weekend, thousands of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators poured into the campus, and several groups clashed on Sunday. Video shows people screaming and jostling. Some demonstrators tried to break through a barrier between groups of protesters.
Daniel Harris, a fourth-year student, said he stopped watching the demonstrations on Tuesday night after the university chancellor said the camp was “illegal” and could see tensions rise again. Counter-protesters used loudspeakers to play loud recordings of a crying child. A masked man tried to jump the fence around the camp but was chased away by security.
Shortly thereafter, Harris witnessed a large group of people dressed in black, with white masks, who he believed to be something from the Purge, marching toward the camp.
“I was on the phone with my girlfriend and I was like, what the hell is going on right now? What the hell? I’ve never seen this in real life. These are things that only happen in the movies.”
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After he left, he watched footage of those same demonstrators breaking through the barricade and beating protesters at the camp, Harris said. Video from the scene shows people struggling, throwing chairs and using sticks to fight. The violence played out for hours without the intervention of police or security, media reported.
“They just let it happen. And it is up to the students to protect themselves,” said Nair.
The Los Angeles Police Department referred questions about the attack to UCLA campus police, who a spokesman said was the “lead agency” in the incident. Campus police have yet to comment. UCLA’s chancellor said the university was “gathering information” about the attack and the investigation could lead to “arrests, expulsions and firings.”
Nair said she was disgusted by the attacks on students who she said were brave enough to stand up for what they believed in and stand up for the Palestinians.
“They didn’t start this. It was a peaceful protest,” she said. “What I saw last night, these people, as far as I know, were just random people walking onto our campus, full grown adults, and started attacking kids.”
Cyr said he believes the group that came to campus was not connected to people behind pro-Israel demonstrations and came to oppose and take advantage of the chaos. “There is so much frustration in the community that the school allows [the encampment] to happen, he said. “[But] I can never stand behind that kind of violence.
Noah, a law student at UCLA, said he was unhappy with UCLA’s approach to the camp and that he expected to see even more division after this week’s violence.
“The campus community is really fractured — and this is really only going to make it bigger now,” he said.
