Gaza protest fallout: Congress launches probe of UCLA after violence on campus

After violent clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israeli counter-protesters, some in U.S. Congress demanded that the University of California, Los Angeles turn over documents regarding its response. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce opened an investigation into the handing of pro-Palestinian encampments on campus.

In a letter to the school on Wednesday, May 15, some Republicans called UCLA’s actions regarding the protests an “inadequate response to antisemitism.”

The committee gave the institution until next Tuesday, May 21, to turn over the records.

Police arrested around 200 people in the aftermath of the protests at UCLA. Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating why it took police more than three hours to quell the chaos. Some lawmakers want to know why, too.

The chair of the House Committee, Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., criticized the institution’s alleged failure to have police ready before pro-Israel counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment. She also noted university police did not ask for help from outside agencies, like the Los Angeles Police Department, until well after the fights began.

Foxx said she wants school leaders to release all security videos, communications and documents related to the antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.

“Jewish students were attacked, harassed, and intimidated for walking on their own campus,” Foxx said.

Foxx cited several alleged incidents, including an instance where a pro-Palestinian protesters allegedly kicked a Jewish woman in the head.

The committee also wants to see disciplinary records for “alleged antisemitic incidents” at the university since Oct. 7.

“A third of all Jewish students at UCLA reported being blamed for the actions of the Israeli government because of their Jewish identity either frequently or occasionally,” said a 2015 study that Foxx cited in her letter.

The vice chancellor of strategic communications at UCLA said in a statement that the school received the letter from Congress and is reviewing it.

As Congress launches its investigation, police continue a criminal investigation into the assaults during the protests on Tuesday, April 30. CNN reported that the identities of the most aggressive counter- protesters are largely unknown.

Pro-Israel counter-protesters allegedly used everything from metal poles to brooms in order to attack pro-Palestinian activists. As the pro-Israel counter-protesters attacked encampments, police officers reportedly stood by.

Law enforcement did not document any injuries from the fights. However, campus organizers reported more than 150 students were assaulted, including some who were sprayed with pepper spray and bear mace. Organizers also said that at least 25 protesters were taken to the hospital with injuries including fractures, severe cuts and more. Some pro-Palestinian student protesters also said counter-protesters made violent threats toward them.

The next day, Hillel, a Jewish organization on campus, denounced “fringe members of the off-campus Jewish community,” maintaining they do not “represent the estimated 3,000 Jewish Bruins at UCLA.”

Multiple parties blamed outside agitators for violence on both sides. Police also acknowledged many of those arrested were from outside the UCLA community.