Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP / Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - While UCLA's chancellor testified before Congress about efforts to combat antisemitism on campus, pro-Palestinian activists again set up barricades and established another encampment on the Westwood campus, and protest organizers promised Friday to continue their efforts.
The encampment at UCLA was quickly dismantled Thursday and later moved into a classroom building.
Protesters on Thursday morning used tables, metal fences, plywood and other materials to block off a section of campus between Kerckhoff and Moore halls, a main walkway used by students traversing the Westwood campus.
The group Students for Justice in Palestine posted on Instagram that it had established "a second encampment at Kerckhoff patio," adding, "we need support in numbers ASAP." But the group warned the action could lead to arrest.
"Please take the time to assess your risk before coming," the group warned.
Campus security took positions around the burgeoning encampment, and eventually university police were joined by officers from the Santa Monica and Los Angeles police departments, along with some Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies.
The Los Angeles Police Department went on a citywide tactical alert late Thursday morning as protest supporters began descending on the campus, but the alert was lifted by early afternoon. Officers at the campus prevented any more people from entering the barricaded encampment, and even prevented people from delivering food or water to the protesters inside.
It was unclear how many protesters had been taking part in the encampment within the barricaded area. Early Thursday afternoon, police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and law enforcement formed a skirmish line between the barricaded area and several hundred supporters who were gathered outside the encampment, pushing the crowd back while issuing repeated orders to disperse.
By about 1 p.m., police made their way into the barricaded encampment area, and the plaza appeared to have been largely vacated. The group that was gathered outside the encampment then backed away from police and began marching en masse across the campus.
The group then amassed outside Murphy Hall, where they stood chanting and blocking Charles E. Young Drive. After that rally, the group appeared to disperse in different directions, but another gathering emerged inside and outside of Dodd Hall, where protesters chanted "Free Palestine" and eventually began an occupation of the building that continued until early evening Thursday.
The group began dispersing and leaving the building around 5:30 p.m. There were no reports of arrests or injuries.
Protest organizers on Instagram proclaimed that they will continue to press their demands of divestment from Israel and "severance of ties to the Zionist state."
"We are here for Palestine. We will not stop until our university ends its complicity in genocide and violence," according to the group.
Among those who had gathered in support of protesters were a small group of unionized academic workers who held picket-line-type signs in support of Palestine. Their union -- United Auto Workers Local 4811 -- has called for a strike of academic workers to begin at UCLA and UC Davis on Tuesday. It will be the second wave of a strike that began this week at UC Santa Cruz, protesting the dismantling of pro-Palestinian protests.
The union is demanding amnesty for employees and students who took part in protests and are facing disciplinary actions, along with guarantees of free-speech protections and the right to political expression on campus. The UC system, meanwhile, insists that any strikes based on such demands would be illegal, since they are non-labor issues that fall outside the scope of the union's labor agreement.
The California Public Employment Relations Board denied Thursday the University of California's request for an injunction against the union workers.
"We're glad PERB has rejected UC's latest demand for special treatment under the law," said Rafael Jaime, the President of UAW 4811. "UC has allowed members of the academic community to be brutalized by violent agitators, and called in police to trample on our members' rights in direct contradiction to UC's own policies. Our workers have walked off the job to demand resolution of these brazen unfair labor practices. PERB's decision to deny their request for an injunction proves that no employer gets to make up its own rules."
The University of California Office of the President responded in a prepared statement to PERB's denial of UC's request for an injunction.
"We are pleased that PERB has issued a complaint against UAW for engaging in a strike that is contrary to the no-strike clauses in their collective bargaining agreements and without providing adequate notice to the University. We are eager to see a quick and just resolution to this matter," the statement read.
The action at UCLA unfolded as university Chancellor Gene Block testified before the House Committee on Education and Workforce about the university's response to an earlier pro-Palestinian encampment -- which was dismantled in early May, leading to the arrests of 209 people. The committee grilled Block and the leaders of Northwestern and Rutgers universities about their handling of protests and alleged failures to protect Jewish students for antisemitism on campus.
In his opening remarks, Block conceded some shortcomings in the university's response to the original encampment, saying it should have acted to remove the protesters sooner.
"With the benefit of hindsight, we should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment if and when the safety of our community was put at risk," Block told the committee. "We've since taken decisive action. I've created a new office of campus safety that reports directly to me.
"Finally, we will hold accountable all those who engaged in violence or violated our policies," Block said. "No student should be threatened or excluded based on their beliefs or identity. While we will always have to strive hard to meet this obligation, we must also maintain our commitment to academic freedom and free speech."
During the hearing, the committee played a video that went viral during the original encampment, showing a group of masked Palestinian protesters blocking a Jewish student from using a campus walkway to reach a class. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-California, grilled Block about whether any of the protesters involved had been disciplined, and when Block gave a non-committal answer, Kiley noted, "We have the evidence right here on video, a student being blocked from entering your campus based on his Jewish identity, and there's been no consequence whatsoever, is that what you're telling us?"
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota blasted Block for failing to protect the Palestinian protesters during the assault that took place the night before the encampment was cleared, saying, "You should be ashamed."
Earlier Thursday, Block sent a message to the UCLA community saying the university this week is "initiating a broad-based review to address reports of antisemitic and anti-Arab or Islamophobic discrimination and harassment that may have interfered with students' abilities to access the university's educational programs and activities. We will retain an outside firm to support our Civil Rights Office's review of these issues."
Earlier this week, UCLA removed and reassigned university police Chief John Thomas. The chief told the Daily Bruin campus newspaper, "There's been a lot going on and I learned late yesterday (Monday) that I'm temporarily reassigned from my duties as chief," Thomas told the paper.
There was no immediate word on what position Thomas had been assigned to. He has been the campus police chief since January.
In a statement, UCLA Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications Mary Osako said Gawin Gibson has been named acting chief.
"John Thomas has been reassigned temporarily, pending an examination of our security processes," Osako said. "As we said on May 5, UCLA created a new Office of Campus Safety that is leading a thorough examination of our security processes aimed at enhancing the wellbeing and safety of our community."