UCLA students describe violent attack on Gaza protest encampment: ‘It was terrifying’

When Meghna Nair, a second-year student at the University of California, Los Angeles, saw a masked group of people headed toward the pro-Palestine encampment on campus late on Tuesday evening, she expected trouble.

“I knew where they were going. I had an idea what they planned to do,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Related: California leaders condemn violence at UCLA after raid on pro-Palestine camp

But the violence that unfolded on the public university’s campus overnight and the slow response from authorities shocked Nair and other UCLA students.

Late on Tuesday night, a masked group surrounded the encampment in solidarity with Gaza, throwing fireworks and violently attacking students. Students and reporters for multiple outlets said university-hired security forces locked themselves in nearby buildings and police looked on for hours before intervening.

UCLA cancelled all classes on Wednesday and with the exception of the central meeting area, the normally lively campus was mostly deserted. A helicopter hovered overhead throughout the morning while groups of security guards and law enforcement stood around the sectioned off encampment. Students slowed as they passed the barricades, taking in the scene.

Noah, a law student who preferred to use only his first name, said he was horrified by the violence, which he described as akin to a battle. “This is like sacred ground to me,” he said, pointing to the large lawn and stately brick buildings. “It reminded me of January 6. It was terrifying.”

UCLA, like universities across the country, has seen continuing protests over the war in Gaza. Nair said the demonstrations at UCLA were largely peaceful when she attended last week, shortly after the encampment was established.

“It was beautiful. It was really amazing to see so many young people come together like that all on their own,” Nair said. “The amount of support and passion that they had was just overflowing.”

But tensions had been rising on campus, students said. Jewish students have reported feeling unsafe and described some of the behavior of demonstrators as antisemitic.

“It’s been absolute chaos and complete division,” said Logan Cyr, a UCLA law student. “It’s so deeply politicized and it’s so divided.” Cyr said he had faced antisemitism on campus in recent days and that people are frustrated the university allowed protests to continue as they have.

Over the weekend, thousands of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators poured on to the campus, and several groups clashed on Sunday. Video showed people shouting and shoving each other. Some demonstrators attempted to breach a barrier between groups of protesters.

Daniel Harris, a fourth-year student, said he stopped to observe the demonstrations on Tuesday evening, after the university chancellor said the encampment was “unlawful”, and could see tensions rising anew. Counter-protesters used speakers to play recordings of a crying child at a loud volume. A masked man attempted to hop the fence surrounding the encampment but was forced out by security.

Shortly after Harris witnessed a large group of people wearing black, with white masks that he said were like something from The Purge marching toward the encampment.

“I was on the phone with my girlfriend, and I was like, what the fuck is happening right now? What the actual fuck? I’ve never seen this in real life. This is stuff that only happens in movies.”

After he left, he watched footage of those same demonstrators breaching the barricade and beating protesters in the encampment, Harris said. Video of the scene showed people grappling, throwing chairs and using sticks to beat one another. The violence unfolded for hours without intervention from police or security guards, media outlets reported.

“They just let it happen. And it was up to the students to protect themselves,” Nair said.

The Los Angeles police department referred questions about the attack to UCLA’s campus police, which a spokesperson said was the “lead agency” in the incident. The campus police have not yet offered comment. UCLA’s chancellor said the university is “gathering information” about the attack and its investigation may lead to “arrests, expulsions and dismissals”.

Nair said she was sickened by the attacks on students who she viewed as courageous for standing up for what they believe in and advocating for Palestinians.

“They didn’t start this. This was a peaceful protest,” she said. “What I saw last night, those people, as far as I know, were just random people coming in on to our campus, full grown adults and they started attacking kids.”

Cyr said he believed the group that came on campus was unaffiliated with people behind pro-Israel demonstrations and came to antagonize and take advantage of the chaos. “There is so much frustration in the community that the school is allowing [the encampment] to happen, he said. “[But] I can never stand behind that sort of violence.”

Noah, the UCLA law student, said he wasn’t happy with UCLA’s approach to the encampment and that he expected to see even more division after this week’s violence.

“The campus community is really fractured – and this is really only going to increase it now,” he said.