It is never okay to use physical violence against people you disagree with. This should be obvious, but the events that unfolded on the UCLA campus early Wednesday morning show the consequences when that message is lost.
On Tuesday night, a large group of people attacked the anti-war camp on the Westwood campus. These were not campus authorities acting on orders from the university that the camp was “illegal,” but rather people who disagreed with the pro-Palestinian protesters and decided to clear the camp themselves. It got ugly quickly.
In this era of a video camera in every pocket, we can look at everything with surprising clarity through the numerous clips posted on social media. It is shocking to see people running towards the barricades, trying to remove the metal and wooden barriers and attacking each other with fists, sticks and pepper spray.
It is disheartening to hear the vile insults hurled by counter-protesters and the screams of protesters after a firework launched in the middle of the camp explodes. This violence continued for hours, even though campus officials knew it was happening and had summoned authorities to campus. Student journalists covering the incident. Were attacked.
Looking back, it should have been easy to see this clash coming. Tension had been brewing since pro-Palestinian protesters set up camp last week and intensified after Israel supporters set up a protest space nearby, as has happened documented by the Daily Bruin.
University of California President Michael V. Drake was right to call for a review of the actions of the campus administration. We hope you can determine whether the university could have done more to prevent this from breaking out on Tuesday night, why campus security stood by as the violence escalated, and why it took police department officers approximately three hours. Los Angeles and the California Highway Patrol to control the situation. UC leaders have a responsibility to maintain safety, and the melee made the campus unsafe for students and staff.
Several professors have criticized the response as a failure on the part of university, municipal and state authorities. “Why didn't the police, UCPD and LAPD show up? Those in the camp were defenseless against a violent gang of thugs. And no one, regardless of their political position, is safer today,” said David Myers, a professor of Jewish history at UCLA.
Anyone who participated in the violence must be held accountable, as Governor Gavin Newsom says. said Wednesday, ohOtherwise, such attacks are likely to continue as the campus protest movement grows across the country.
Protesters at camps on college campuses know they could be arrested for trespassing or failing to disperse, which is what happened Thursday morning when police cleared the UCLA camp and arrested more than 200 people. That's part of the deal when engaging in acts of civil disobedience. But protesters should not be subjected to physical attacks by people who disagree with them.
Free speech and protest are the foundations of America and have been a cornerstone of American college life for decades. It is unacceptable for anyone to try to silence an opinion they disagree with through intimidation and violence.
