A new lawsuit accuses UCLA of violating the civil rights of demonstrators at the pro-Palestinian encampment that sprung up on campus earlier this year.
The six people who filed the suit, including students, say the university did nothing to protect their right to protest when they pitched tents outside Royce Hall to protest Israel’s killing of Palestinians in Gaza.
“The universities should be ashamed of how they treated students, students who were peacefully protesting,” one of the plaintiffs said.
In the early morning hours of May 1, the encampment was attacked by pro-Israel counter-demonstrators with sticks, poles, fireworks, and bear spray. Law enforcement was present on campus, but didn’t intervene for hours while the violence unfolded.
The very next night, hundreds of officers descended on campus, fired projectiles and flash-bags into the encampment, and arrested over 200 peaceful protesters.
“We want to know who told the police to stand down and allow the Zionists to physically attack the peaceful protesters, who ordered the LAPD, CHP, and the campus police to attack with full brutality the students the night after,” said attorney James Gutierrez.
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The Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol are also named as defendants in the suit, which seeks $1 million in damages for each of the protesters.
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