UCLA protester says 'Zionist thugs' released rats into anti-Israel encampment
An anti-Israel demonstrator told CNN on Wednesday that "Zionist thugs" attacked their UCLA encampment and released "rats" as they were trying to protest, following hours of violence at the college campus.
UCLA "encampment media liaison" and political science Ph.D. student Vincent Doehr said protesters repeatedly warned the college about harassment and death threats against students before violence broke out Tuesday night. Fights began after a group of pro-Israel protesters arrived at the demonstration.
"We have warned the university about the threats of rape, death threats against our students, physical harassment, the release of rats on our encampment by Zionists during the nighttime," the student said.
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"Every night, Zionists have come and harassed the encampment, harassed students trying to peacefully call for divestment of the UC's endowment from corporations that profit off of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. We saw Zionists grab our barricades and tried to rip them down. Zionists maced the majority of students in the encampment and the police that the university had hired, the private security guards, stared and watched as this happened, despite us warning the UC repeatedly that this was likely to happen," Doehr added.
CNN's Sara Sidner asked the student how he knew they were Zionists, while noting that there were definitely pro-Israel demonstrators present. She also asked if he noticed if the crowd was different Tuesday night.
"Zionism means support for the creation of the Jewish state in historic Palestine, which is what these people do. They were exclusively supportive of Israel. That is what a Zionist is. And second of all, no, we‘ve actually sent photos of many of the people who were here to the university administration, and they still allowed them onto campus and to attack us using weapons such as pepper spray, mace, boards, bricks, fireworks — not firecracker — fireworks were shot directly at students and exploded at ground level inside the encampment. I think that’s unacceptable," he said.
A group of about 100 pro-Israel counter-protesters arrived at UCLA's campus and clashed with the anti-Israel protesters who were present. After about three hours without police intervention, Los Angles Mayor Karen Bass ordered city police to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies and break up the protest, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Doehr denied that the anti-Israel protesters were pro-Hamas.
"We're here to call for an end to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and a divestment of UC's endowment," he said.
Sidner also asked the anti-Israel protester about what they plan to do if police move in on their encampment, which UCLA had declared illegal.
"So LAPD still has a legal obligation to declare our encampment and unlawful assembly and must give us warning to disburse. They‘ve not done that yet. So we intend to stay," he said.
At Columbia University in New York, the NYPD infiltrated Hamilton Hall — an academic building on campus that anti-Israel protesters were occupying — and cleared it within two hours. Several were arrested and the encampment on campus was cleared.
UCLA did not respond to a request for comment.
Anti-Israel protests have taken over college campuses in recent weeks as students protest the Israel-Hamas war.