After police were called to restore order and clear out anti-Israel agitators at the University of California, Los Angeles, many have been left to wonder: How will they be held accountable?
These protesters formed an illegal encampment on the campus and remained there for several days, subsequently forcing the school to cancel classes on Wednesday for all students amid safety concerns. Some defied orders to voluntarily leave, some shouted antisemitic slogans and chants, and — once the Los Angeles Police Department, California Highway Patrol officers, and others moved to clear the encampment on Thursday — some resisted arrest and threw objects at the enforcement officers.
Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett explained Thursday, as law enforcement officers were dismantling a protest encampment at UCLA and arresting the anti-Israel agitators, that the rioters will likely not be held accountable.
“They will never be prosecuted for the myriad of crimes we’ve been witnessing: destruction of property, trespassing, violating police orders to vacate and disperse. We’ve seen acts of assault and battery against the police officers, throwing projectiles at them,” Jarrett said.
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Antisemitic instigators use makeshift shields as police advance on them on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
According to UCLA’s own warning, the university said the agitators “could” face consequences, but it did not definitively identify a punishment.
“If you fail to leave and remain present in the encampment or unauthorized tents or structures in Dickson Plaza, regardless of your purpose for remaining, you will be in violation of the law and those who choose to remain could face sanctions. For students, those sanctions could include disciplinary measures such as interim suspension that, after proper due process through the student conduct process, could lead to dismissal,” the warning read (emphasis added).
Police advance on demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Police advance on demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Fox News legal analyst commended the law enforcement officers who moved onto the campus and successfully cleared it but said the agitators will be back onto the streets “within a couple of hours.”
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“Police should be commended for doing their job,” Jarrett said. “But understand that the people being arrested will be out on the streets within a couple of hours before the paperwork is even finished.”
Jarrett put blame for the quick turnaround squarely on the shoulders of Los Angeles’ own policies.
“None of the people who are being arrested will be prosecuted because the citizens of Los Angeles elected George Gascón as the district attorney,” he said. “He’s a far-left progressive who made it abundantly clear the moment he took office that his solution to crime was to open the jailhouse doors and that’s what he did.”
Demonstrators watch police activity behind a makeshift barricade on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
UCLA canceled classes on Wednesday amid ongoing safety concerns stemming from the anti-Israel demonstration on the campus and said courses would be held remotely on Thursday and Friday.
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The new guidelines from Bruins Safe Online said campus operations “will be limited” through the end of this week.
Demonstrators are detained on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Anti-Israel protesters at UCLA campus set up encampment in support of Gaza and protest the Israeli attacks in Los Angeles, California, United States on May 1, 2024. (Grace Yoon/Anadolu via Getty Images)
UCLA said Geffen Academy, Lab School and Early Care and Education will remain closed Thursday.
The anti-Israel agitators called for UCLA to divest its affiliations with Israel and entities that benefit from Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
