UCLA students sue CHP, LAPD over alleged violence at campus pro-Palestine protests
Police break up Pro-Palestinian protest at UCLA
UCLA Police moved in to break up what authorities are calling an "unlawful assembly."
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A group of UCLA students and community members is suing the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles Police Department and dozens of unidentified employees from both agencies over law officers' alleged "violent attack" on participants in a pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA last spring, according to court papers obtained Monday.
According to the lawsuit, hundreds of riot-clad law enforcement agents from CHP, LAPD and other agencies engaged in a joint operation to attack and clear the UCLA Palestine solidarity encampment on May 1-2 last year, tearing down the encampment walls and striking those gathered inside with batons and "less lethal" rubber bullets allegedly fired directly into the crowd.
Plaintiffs including Abdullah Puckett, a PhD candidate at UCLA, and David Ramirez, a self-employed architectural designer, contend they were subjected to unlawful force and shot with rubber or foam bullets at the encampment. Kira Layton, an undergraduate art student at UCLA, and Juliana Islam Hawari-Vogenpoohl, a college student studying to become a teacher, also allege they were subjected to unlawful force and shot with projectiles at the protest.
Photos filed last Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court as part of the 28-page complaint for damages show the plaintiffs with head and body injuries. The plaintiffs contend they suffered "severe injuries" causing "intense and prolonged pain" and continue to deal with "mental and emotional distress" following the chaotic events last spring on the UCLA campus.
A message sent to CHP seeking comment was not immediately answered. An LAPD representative said the department does not comment on pending litigation.
However, Wade Stern, president of the Federated University Peace Officers Association -- which represents some 350 officers and sergeants who serve the campuses of the UC system -- rejected as "baseless and inflammatory" allegations made in the lawsuit.
"The operation to dismantle the so-called Palestine solidarity encampment was a necessary and carefully coordinated response to a dangerous and escalating situation," Stern said in a statement. "The encampment had grown increasingly volatile following violent clashes between opposing groups. It immediately threatened campus safety, public order, and the rights of all students and faculty to access a safe and secure learning environment."
Stern said that law enforcement's actions, including those of UCLA Police Department officers and outside agencies brought in to support the operation, were "measured, lawful, and in accordance with departmental policies and training."
He added that officers responded with "appropriate force only after repeated warnings were ignored and individuals refused to disperse from an illegal encampment that had descended into chaos and violence."
UCLA students launched the campus Palestine solidarity encampment in front of Royce Hall to protest Israel's war in Gaza and what the students contend are the university's financial dealings with Israel. The suit alleges that the students themselves, with the support of university faculty, staff, and administration, comprised a multi-racial and multi-ethnic group of Muslims, Jews, Christians, atheists and others.
Both UCLA and USC experienced extensive pro-Palestinian protests last year in relation to the Israel-Hamas war sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The massive pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA was one of the largest campus protests of its type in the country.
The pro-Palestine encampment that grew in the center of campus in mid- April last year was attacked by counter-protesters and sparked hours of violence. Hundreds of police eventually descended on the campus and forcefully dismantled the encampment, making 209 arrests.
That was followed by a congressional inquiry into the campus' response to antisemitism, lawsuits accusing the university of failing to protect Jewish students and accusations by protesters of excessive force by campus police and interference with free-speech rights.