'It was for a cause I believed in', UCLA protesters arrested speak out after release
LOS ANGELES - Many UCLA students arrested early Thursday morning for the Pro-Palestinian camp-in demonstration were released from jail Thursday afternoon.
FOX 11 spoke with two of the organizers, both UCLA students, after they were released from jail. The students are both seniors at UCLA, but unwilling to share their names for broadcast or publication.
"It was for a cause I believed in, and I was surrounded by my fellow students," said one of the demonstrators. "I’m proud [for] being arrested".
FOX 11 received a written statement Thursday afternoon from UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. The chancellor explained the decision made to shut down the camp-in demonstration.
"We approached the encampment with the goal of maximizing our community members’ ability to make their voices heard on an urgent global issue. We had allowed it to remain in place so long as it did not jeopardize Bruins’ safety or harm our ability to carry out our mission. But while many of the protesters at the encampment remained peaceful, ultimately, the site became a focal point for serious violence as well as a huge disruption to our campus. Several days of violent clashes between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators put too many Bruins in harm’s way and created an environment that was completely unsafe for learning. Demonstrators directly interfered with instruction by blocking students’ pathways to classrooms. Indirectly, violence related to the encampment led to the closure of academic buildings and the cancellation of classes. And frankly, hostilities were only continuing to escalate. In the end, the encampment on Royce Quad was both unlawful and a breach of policy. It led to unsafe conditions on our campus and it damaged our ability to carry out our mission. It needed to come to an end."
"I don’t see anything unlawful about it," said the UCLA student. "I think we were peaceful, we were just practicing our first amendment."
Early Thursday morning, University Police arrested 210 people at the camp for failure to disperse. The arrests and camp closure came roughly a day after counter-protesters clashed with the demonstrators. During that conflict, at least 15 people were injured, and no arrests were made.
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"I was clubbed 2 times in the head with a wooden two-by-four beam," said a second UCLA student and organizer. "I was pepper sprayed to the eyes."
This particular student says he had to receive hospital treatment that night and was treated for a concussion. He then returned to the camp-in and was arrested early Thursday morning.
"It’s pretty clear to see, one side is being really protective, holding a line, while the other side is coming up and being very aggressive," said the student.
Cellphone video taken this week shows protesters allegedly blocking a Jewish UCLA student from walking through a section of campus.
"You can’t define this as peaceful when you’re vandalizing school buildings," said Logan Cyr, a UCLA student. "You’re creating a system of apartheid where you allow certain people into half the campus and other people not allowed into that area of the campus".
In addition, images from inside the camp show graffiti on buildings and sidewalks, including at least one swastika.
"I actually hadn’t seen any swastikas," said the demonstrator. "I’ve seen a lot of graffiti. We wanted to raise attention to disrupt events, because the campus wasn’t willing to do anything. They weren’t willing to talk to us."
"Everyone I protested with, would not stand with those actions," said the other demonstrator. "If they’re doing such things like that, they’re not really for the movement".
The demonstrators FOX 11 spoke with claim they never heard from UCLA staff or discussed their protest demands with them.