How counterprotesters at UCLA sparked violence, unchecked for hours

A satellite image of the UCLA campus.

On Tuesday night, violence broke out at a camp that pro-Palestinian protesters had set up on April 25.

The image is annotated to show the extent of the pro-Palestinian camp, which occupies the entire width of the plaza between Powell Library and Royce Hall.

Clashes began after counterprotesters attempted to dismantle the camp’s barricade. Pro-Palestinian protesters rushed to rebuild it and violence ensued.

Arrows indicate pro-Israel counterprotesters advancing toward the barricade at the edge of the camp. The arrows show pro-Palestinian counterprotesters advancing against the same barricade.

The police arrived hours later, but did not immediately intervene.

An arrow indicates that the police are arriving from the same direction as the counterprotesters and advancing towards the barricade.

A New York Times examination of more than 100 videos of confrontations at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that the violence ebbed and flowed for nearly five hours, much of it with little or no police intervention. The violence had been instigated by dozens of people who appear in videos counter-protesting against the camp.

Videos showed counterprotesters attacking students at the pro-Palestinian camp for several hours, including hitting them with sticks, using chemical sprays and launching fireworks as weapons. As of Friday, no arrests had been made in connection with the attack.

To construct a timeline of that night’s events, The Times analyzed two live broadcasts, along with social media videos. captured by journalists and witnesses.

The melee began when a group of counterprotesters began tearing down metal barriers that had been set up to cordon off pro-Palestinian protesters. Hours earlier, UCLA officials had declared the camp illegal.

Security personnel hired by the university wearing yellow vests are seen standing to the side throughout the incident. A university spokesperson declined to comment on the response of security personnel.

Mel Buer/The Real News Network

It is unclear how the counterprotest was organized or what loyalties the people who committed the violence had. The videos show that many of the counterprotesters wore pro-Israel slogans on their clothing. Some counterprotesters played loud music, including Israel’s national anthem, a Hebrew children’s song and “Harbu Darbu,” an Israeli song about the Israel Defense Forces’ campaign in Gaza.

As counterprotesters tore down metal barricades, one of them was seen trying to hit a person near the camp, and another threw a piece of wood at him – some of the first signs of violence.

The attacks on the camp continued for almost three hours before police arrived.

Counterprotesters shot fireworks toward the camp at least six times, according to videos analyzed by The Times. One of them exploded inside, prompting screams from protesters. Another exploded at the edge of the camp. One was thrown in the direction of a group of protesters carrying an injured person out of the camp.

Mel Buer/The Real News Network

Some counterprotesters sprayed chemicals both in the camp and directly in people’s faces.

Sean Beckner-Carmitchel via Reuters

Counterprotesters sometimes surrounded individuals; sometimes a group attacked a single person. They could be seen punching, kicking and attacking people with improvised weapons, including sticks, traffic cones and wooden planks.

StringersHub via Associated Press, Sergio Olmos/Calmatters

In one video, protesters taking shelter inside the camp can be heard shouting, “Don’t participate! Hold the line!”

In some cases, protesters in the camp are seen fighting back, using chemical sprays on counterprotesters trying to knock down barricades or hitting them with sticks.

Except for a brief attempt to capture a loudspeaker used by counterprotesters and water bottles thrown outside the camp, none of the videos analyzed by The Times show any clear examples of camp protesters initiating clashes with counterprotesters beyond defending barricades.

Shortly before 1 a.m., more than two hours after the violence broke out, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office posted a declaration That said, UCLA officials had called the Los Angeles Police Department for help and were responding “immediately.”

Officers from another law enforcement agency, the California Highway Patrol, began gathering nearby; around 1:45 a.m., riot police from the Los Angeles Police Department joined them a few minutes later. Counterprotesters applauded their arrival, chanting “USA, USA, USA!”

Just four minutes after officers arrived, counterprotesters attacked a man who was several feet away from officers.

Twenty minutes after police arrived, video shows a counterprotester spraying a chemical substance toward the camp during a fight over a metal barricade. Another counter-protester can be seen hitting someone in the head near the camp after swinging a board against the barricades.

Fifteen minutes later, as those in the camp chanted “Free, free Palestine,” the counterprotesters organized a race towards the barricades. During the rush, a counterprotester pulls a metal barricade off a woman and yells, “You don’t stand a chance, old lady.”

During the intermittent violence, officers were captured on video remaining about 300 feet away from the area for about an hour, without intervening.

It wasn’t until 2:42 a.m. that officers began moving toward the camp, after which the counterprotesters dispersed and the night’s violence between the two camps mostly subsided.

The LAPD and California Highway Patrol did not respond to questions from The Times about their responses Tuesday night, deferring to UCLA.

While declining to answer specific questions, a university spokesperson provided a statement to the Times from Mary Osako, UCLA vice chancellor for strategic communications: “We are carefully examining our security processes since that night and are grateful to UC President Michael Drake, for also calling for an investigation. “We are grateful that the fire department and medical personnel were on the scene that night.”

LAPD officers were seen putting on protective gear and walking toward the barricade around 2:50 a.m. They stood between the camp and the counter-protest group, and the counter-protesters began to disperse.

As police continued to stand outside the camp, video filmed at 3:32 a.m. shows a man walking away from the scene being attacked by a counterprotester, then dragged and beaten by others. An editor at UCLA’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, told The Times that the man was a reporter for the paper and that they were walking with other journalism students who had been covering the violence. The editor said she had also been beaten and a chemical sprayed in her eyes.

On Wednesday, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block issued a statement calling the actions of the “instigators” who attacked the camp unacceptable. A spokesman for California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the delay in response from campus officials and said he demands answers.

Jewish and Muslim organizations in Los Angeles also condemned the attacks. Hussam Ayloush, director of the Greater Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called on California’s attorney general to investigate the lack of police response. The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles blamed UCLA officials for creating an unsafe environment for months and said officials had been “systemically slow to respond when law enforcement is desperately needed.”

Fifteen people were reportedly injured in the attack, according to a letter sent by the president of the University of California system to the board of regents.

The night after the attack began, law enforcement warned pro-Palestinian protesters to leave the camp or be arrested. By early Thursday morning, police had dismantled the camp and arrested more than 200 people.