Tensions at the University of California, Los Angeles continued this weekend and Monday as professors protested outside an A-list gala at the school on Saturday evening and several dozen more students were arrested on Monday as an investigation into the gang that took over the school had attacked. Last week's pro-Palestinian encampment on campus continued.
Despite the mass arrests and dismantling of an encampment by police in riot gear that took place on Thursday, pro-Palestinian protests continued at the university on Monday. A group of protesters were seen tied up and moved by authorities from a UCLA parking garage to a LACPD bus. The number of arrests of demonstrators was 43, according to local news reports KTLAinvolving those taken into custody on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary and issued after they have been processed; all classes have now been moved to remote.
More protests and arrests took place at UCLA on Monday, with police arresting several people who had gathered in a parking garage on campus.
Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
This follows a group of about two dozen UCLA faculty who protested outside the campus' Hammer Museum on Saturday as outgoing director Ann Philbin was honored at an event whose guest list included Jane Fonda, Ava DuVernay, Keanu Reeves, Will Ferrell, Joel McHale and Owen stood. Wilson, according to the LA times. Host Jodie Foster made a neutral reference to the unrest that roiled the campus last week and led to the cancellation of all classes due to the arrest of hundreds of students and pro-Palestinian protests. Philibin also nodded to the protest, telling the crowd from Hollywood and the art world: “We will defend the sacred right to freedom of expression and the right to protest.” Meanwhile, the faculty was in an uproar over the mass arrest of several of their students who had gathered outside, with one showing what she believed was an X-ray of the broken hand bones of a student of hers.
Police have made no arrests since last week's violent attack on UCLA's Royce Quad, where pro-Palestinian protesters had been stationed for more than a week. Gaza Strip. Late on April 30, a masked group of men entered campus and violently attacked the camp, hours after outgoing Chancellor Gene Block declared the camp illegal. The attackers were mostly men and wore gear that indicated they were pro-Israel, and according to a professor on the scene, some shouted in Hebrew as they attacked individuals and set off fireworks that exploded near and near the camp.
The response from campus security and local police has led to multiple investigations — one by the school, according to Block, and another by the head of the UC system. new department at UCLA. The Office of Campus Safety has now been launched to lead emergency management and Rick Braziel, a former Sacramento police chief, has been nominated with the title of inaugural vice chancellor.
Outrage over the attack led the New York Times video research team to publish an in-depth analysis of the events that took place after the merging of the available images; The publication's investigation concludes that, aside from defensive acts, pro-Palestinian protesters had remained largely peaceful throughout the attack. The Timereferring to the attackers as counter-protesters, reports that the violent incident lasted almost five hours.
“The violence was incited by dozens of people seen in videos protesting against the camp,” the spokesperson said. Timereport states, later citing local police and California Highway Patrol officers who eventually arrived to quell the violent scene: “During the periodic violence, officers were captured on video standing approximately 300 feet away from the area without interfering. ”
Men attack pro-Palestinian protesters at an encampment set up on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as clashes break out.
ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP/Getty Images
Online sleuths have since made efforts to identify the attackers and discover who or what they may be connected to. One man from the group of attackers had stopped to be interviewed by a reporter between attacks on the encampment. As he struggles to breathe after being exposed to a chemical agent, the yet-to-be-identified man tells the reporter that he is not going to UCLA and that he was there because he believes the protesters at the camp had stopped students. of attending classes; this was also the case a point made in Block's letter to the UCLA community and which he said the government deemed the camp illegal earlier that day.
After the attack, which took place a day before police dismantled the camp and arrested around 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators, attention has focused on the group or individual behind one GoFundMe fundraising page claiming to organize counter-protests against the UCLA encampment. The fundraising appeal, which has raised $97,974 as of Monday, is called “Fighting Anti-Semitism on Campus.” According to The everyday beastthe page's creator is Beverly Hills resident Nathan Mo, but the page's author recently changed the name Jew Bears For Truth to go with a linked Instagram account that shared footage of the April 30 attack.
The Daily beast reports that the fundraiser initially stated: “A group of us are planning something really big for the ucla encampment…we are working on putting a big screen and big speakers next to it and non-stop clips and interviews starting October 7 to play.
“To do this well we need a lot of equipment, logistics, personnel and security,” the post said. “If we all join in a little, we can make this a legendary countermove and drown out their chants with the screams and shouts of October 7.” The title of the GoFundMe page has been changed several times, including to “UCLA counter-protest” (which is the URL that remains), “Bruins for Israel,” “UCLA rally” and finally, as of Monday, “Fighting anti-Semitism on campus'. The Hollywood Reporter contacted the group or individual for an interview but did not immediately receive a response Monday.
The group caught the attention of author Jessica Seinfeld, who shared the page with her Instagram followers and mentioned her $5,000 donation. Seinfeld's husband is the famous comedian, Jerry Seinfeldand the donation led to an investigation into his relationships and a trip he recently took to Israel a weekend New York Times story. Meanwhile, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman touted his donation to a separate but affiliated organization GoFundMe called “Support Loud Video Displays of 7 Oct Truths,” which raised $53,248.
“We plan to take this momentum to the next level, and in the next two weeks we will target Columbia or Harvard University,” wrote a person identified as Dani M. “Our goal is to continue to raise our voice to belong. As long as it lasts.” The fundraiser is connected to the Shirion Collective, which describes itself in a biography on Twitter as a private Jewish surveillance force.