On April 30th, an organized mob of known right-wing agitators descended on the UCLA campus and violently attacked students and faculty. The masked attackers beat students with bats and fists and fired explosive fireworks at the UCLA Palestine Solidarity encampment for almost four hours as UCLA Safety Officers stood by. These attacks resulted in multiple injuries, including a student losing a finger. No arrests were made that night.

The following day, on Wednesday May 1st, UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block used the mob attack of the previous night as an excuse to conduct a multi law-enforcement agency operation to clear the UCLA Palestine Solidarity camp. That night, officers of the LAPD, LA County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol raided the encampment, using riot gear and flash grenades to forcibly clear students and faculty. More than 200 people were arrested and charged.

Despite the violence directed at them by outside agitators like the violent right-wing mob and multiple law enforcement agencies, the students and faculty who participated in the Palestine Solidarity encampment remain steadfast in calling for the University to divest from their investments in companies that “participate and profit from human rights violations”. They continue to call for the resignation of UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block for his failure to protect students and faculty, and for his decision to have law enforcement occupy the UCLA campus.

To this date, no charges have been filed nor has law enforcement arrested any of the far-right attackers of the encampment, despite activists and journalists identifying many of them as seen in this CNN investigation.