WESTWOOD, Calif.—Students walking past a barricaded quad area May 1, where violent clashes erupted overnight on the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, said they feared for the safety of their classmates.
Hundreds of student protesters sympathizing with Palestinians, in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, occupied Royce Quad on Wednesday afternoon, as police announced the encampment was unlawful and those who refused to leave would be subject to arrest.
Early Wednesday morning, UCLA officials called for police backup after the groups began fighting. People threw chairs and other objects while others were kicking and beating each other during what would become an hours-long riot. A viral social media video showed fireworks exploding over the encampment.
No arrests were made at the time, no officers were injured, and no force was used by officers, according to a statement by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
In a letter to the University of California Board of Regents, President Michael V. Drake said there was “sufficient confusion” surrounding the violence and he ordered an independent review of the university’s planning, actions, and law enforcement response.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also vowed to conduct a full investigation into Tuesday’s riot. Anyone involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals, and assaulting others would be “found, arrested, and prosecuted,” she said in a post on X.
The scene was measurably more peaceful Wednesday morning as masked protesters restricted visitors to the encampment. The group posted monitors at the barricades as supporters arrived carrying bottled water, food, and other supplies.
Media and other members of the public were not allowed into the encampment.
The “media team” representing the pro-Palestinian protesters declined to speak with The Epoch Times but held interviews outside the barriers with other film crews.
Campus security officers guarded other entrances to the quad blocked by steel barriers. Those who were allowed to pass through carried cases of bottled water, pizza boxes, boxes of sensitive skin hand wipes, Target bags, and other supplies.
The group reportedly sent out a notice earlier in the day requesting helmets, headlamps, shields, knee and elbow pads, umbrellas, medical supplies, and hot lunch, including vegan and gluten-free food, according to Fox News.
The protesters vowed to continue the encampment until the university stops investing in Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza.
Vanessa Muros, a UCLA staff researcher, waited in line to be let inside to visit with someone in the encampment before going back to work, she said.
The violence the night before “upset her,” she told The Epoch Times.
“In terms of what happened last night, I’m very upset on behalf of the people in the encampment,” Ms. Muros said. “I’m here every day and it’s really peaceful. The people who came last night were really just coming to start trouble. People got hurt. It really sort of endangers the people there and their protests, and what they’re trying to do here, which is really important.”
Senior UCLA student Dalton Locicero, 21, said class closures are interfering with midterm exams, but he’s more worried about the safety of the protesting students.
“I’m much more concerned about the health and safety of my classmates,” Mr. Locicero told The Epoch Times. “When there’s open violence like that, it’s scary. I feel like my classmates aren’t protected ... and I shouldn’t feel that way at UCLA.
“This is a renowned university,” he added. “I shouldn’t be worried about the health and safety of my peers.”
UCLA’s Chancellor Gene Block canceled classes Wednesday. The school’s library won’t reopen until Monday and Royce Hall has been vandalized, according to authorities. The building was expected to be closed through Friday.
Mr. Block sent a message to the university’s community about the encampment.
“Many of the demonstrators, as well as counter-demonstrators who have come to the area, have been peaceful in their activism,” he said. “But the tactics of others have frankly been shocking and shameful.”
The violence is “completely at odds with our values,” the chancellor wrote.
“UCLA supports peaceful protest, but not activism that harms our ability to carry out our academic mission and makes people in our community feel bullied, threatened and afraid,” Mr. Block said. “These incidents have put many on our campus, especially our Jewish students, in a state of anxiety and fear.”
The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, an organization that fights poverty and combats antisemitism, said it was appalled by the recent unrest on the UCLA campus, placing blame on the university’s administration for the violence.
“We are appalled at the violence that took place on the campus of UCLA last night,” the federation said in a post on X Wednesday. “The abhorrent actions of a few counter-protestors last night do not represent the Jewish community or our values.”
The federation called on the chancellor and the university to immediately shut down the encampment and to meet with leaders of the Jewish community and elected officials to discuss how UCLA would ensure safety for all on campus to prevent future violence.
“I condemn the violence at UCLA last night,” he said in a post on X. “Those who engage in illegal behavior must be held accountable for their actions–including through criminal prosecution, suspension, or expulsion.”
Activists with Revcom Core, an organization of revolutionary communists with a branch in Los Angeles, walked around the UCLA campus Wednesday in support of the pro-Palestinian protesters.
“What these students are doing is righteous and right,” one of the group’s members, Chantelle Piper, told The Epoch Times. “It’s incredibly important that students here in this country are rejecting that genocide and calling for an end to it. We’re here to say that they are right to do so.”
The group is organizing for a revolution to overthrow “the system of capitalism and imperialism that’s at the root of all this unnecessary oppression,” she said.
A handful of other students trickled through the quiet pathways between buildings.
Charlie, 19, a second-year student who asked not to use his last name, was relaxing on a campus lawn Wednesday afternoon but said he was kept awake as helicopters hovered above his dorm during the overnight violence.
“It’s definitely tense, to say the least,” he told The Epoch Times. “I have some friends who have been going over to the encampment most days.”
He said he had an issue with the protest affecting classes. Two buildings that face the occupied quad were closed.
“It shouldn’t interfere with classes,” Charlie said. “Other than that, I think just protests on both sides are just a healthy way of people expressing themselves.”
University officials have not yet said whether they plan to allow the encampment to continue indefinitely, or cancel more classes or graduation ceremonies, which are scheduled for June in Royce Hall. USC canceled its main graduation ceremony on its main quad last week citing safety and other concerns.
A request for additional information on the recent clash or its next steps regarding the encampment was not returned on deadline.
The LAPD and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department returned to the UCLA campus Wednesday afternoon to provide security, according to a sheriff’s department spokesman.
A large group of protesters were shown in videos posted on social media gathering on the lawns near the encampment, reportedly preparing to rally. Several police units were parked nearby.
Although the sheriff’s department could not comment on UCLA specifically, the department was aware of the rising tensions on college campuses around the nation, according to spokesman Deputy Daniel Dominguez.
“We have been in close communication with our law enforcement partners and are assisting them with providing security, while ensuring a peaceful environment for everyone involved,” Mr. Dominguez told The Epoch Times.
