In the early hours of Wednesday morning, violence broke out when counter-demonstrators attacked a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the University of California Los Angeles campus.
“Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight, and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support,” Mary Osako, a vice-chancellor at the university, said. “The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence, and it must end.”
The fight between the two groups was shared online, showing people with sticks and poles attacking wooden boards being used as a makeshift barricade to protect the pro-Palestinain protesters.
One video on social media showed a man with a large speaker blasting Hebrew music right next to the encampment after the sun had gone down.
Another shot of the violence showed at least one firework being thrown into the camp.
Other videos showed people screaming as they were fist fighting, hitting each other with sticks, and grappling on the ground.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass shared on X that the violence was “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable.”
While the Los Angeles Police Department has so far not interacted with the encampments, which have been condemned by university officials and lawmakers, the altercation resulted in officers responding to de-escalate the situation.
“At the request of UCLA, due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus, the LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD and other law enforcement agencies to restore order and maintain public safety,” the LAPD said on X.
L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who represents the Third District, which is where UCLA is, called the violence "unacceptable” and said she was in close contact with school administrators, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna, and L.A. County's Office of Emergency Management.
KNX News reporter Jon Baird was on the scene, sharing that after the dust settled, officers were still present in the encampment but not making any arrests, just monitoring the situation.
“Both people on the pro-Israel side and the pro-Palestinian side are blaming each other. And I’ve heard comments from both sides about how they had wished that police had moved in to quell this thing sooner. But again, things have calmed down after a pretty long night and a very violent night here at UCLA,” Baird said.
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