Pro-Palestinian protesters wave flags from the second level of the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall after they took over the building at UC Irvine in Irvine on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The UC Irvine Academic Senate had many pointed questions for the UC Irvine administration.
“QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE ENCAMPMENT BEFORE MAY 15 EVENTS,” says the 70-page document that will be weighed by faculty members on Friday, May 31.
“Several police departments, not just the UCI PD and the Irvine PD, but also the Costa Mesa PD, the Newport Beach PD, and the OC Sheriff’s Department, were called during the initial stage of the encampment. What level of police presence was requested? What role did the senior campus Administration play in the decision to call for mutual aid, and what role did it play in directing police activity through its conclusion on this day? What specifically warranted such a request? How quickly were those police agencies released from the campus?”
The lengthy answers from UCI officials — in a document obtained by the Southern California News Group on Friday, where officials admitted errors leading up to the confrontation on May 15 — is now public for all to see on the Academic Senate’s website at https://bit.ly/4bRwRzk.
It makes for interesting reading.
In the beginning
A man puts up a sign on barriers at a pro-Palestinian encampment set up at UC Irvine in Irvine, CA on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
In those early days — from April 30 to the early afternoon of May 15 — the UCI Police Department and unarmed security staff were stationed in the Physical Sciences Quad area to “help maintain the safety of the campus community and those inside the encampment,” officials responded. “There were many late night and weekend rallies, movie screenings, and speakers that at times would draw crowds in excess of 100 people. With the support of concerted efforts of university staff to enforce the importance of the encampment not growing, the size of the encampment remained consistent throughout this time.”
Were there specific safety concerns related to the encampment prior to May 15? the faculty asked. If so, what were they and what evidence supported those concerns?
“While the encampment posed a number of safety risks, the Chancellor decided against immediate police intervention, emphasizing the importance of handling the situation through administrative means, as consistently communicated to the campus,” officials responded. “Despite the encampment obstructing critical emergency response routes and fire lanes, the fire marshal identified possible alternate routes, leading the Chancellor to determine that the encampment could remain in its location as long as it did not expand, maintained its footprint, and remained minimally disruptive, with occupants cooperating with staff requests.”
On May 10, administrators said, a “non-affiliate,” (i.e., non-student) was behaving erratically. He had knives. He refused mental health help. He was arrested, which “exemplified the ongoing security challenges,” the administration said.
Then things changed
Police and pro-Palestinian supporters clash as police move to remove the protesters and encampment at UC Irvine in Irvine on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Faculty had many questions about the decisions made on May 15.
“What was the exact nature of UCI’s call for mutual aid from regional law enforcement and police agencies?” faculty asked. “What level of law enforcement and police presence was requested and how was the requested level determined? What specifically triggered such a request? … Was the dispersal of the encampment consistent with a commitment to free speech? If so, how?”
Administration responded thusly: “At 1:30 p.m. on May 15, a large crowd of both affiliates and non-affiliates gathered near the encampment after public messaging by the protesters called for supporters throughout Southern California to come to campus. At approximately 2 p.m., the situation escalated as protesters began rapidly relocating parts of the encampment towards the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall (PSLH). … A group of protesters attempted to take over PSLH, with several hundred others surrounding the building.”
Protesters secured the lecture hall’s doors from the inside using ropes and other devices, and barricaded the entrance steps with encampment materials, administrators continued. The number of protesters grew to between 200 and 300. They used pallets to strengthen their barricade. UCI police officers attempted to clear access to the building. A protester physically prevented the officer from reaching the barricade by wrapping their arms around the officer and pushing him back.
“Meanwhile,” the administration continued, “another officer tried to remove a pallet from the barricade to clear a path. This action prompted one of the protesters to pick up the discarded pallet and charge at the officer with it. In a defensive move, the officer grabbed the opposite end of the pallet to avoid being struck or overrun. This confrontation caused the crowd of protesters to encircle the officers, who then had to halt their efforts to clear the barricade and regroup, fearing for their safety amid the aggressive actions of the protesters.
“During this initial period protesters assaulted both police officers who were on the scene. During subsequent confrontations that afternoon, one officer sustained a broken wrist, another required stitches, and four additional officers suffered injuries necessitating medical attention, with two of them needing hospital treatment.”
The UCI officers felt outnumbered and overwhelmed, the response said. The encampment had transformed their minimally disruptive setup “into a more aggressive one that infringed on the rights of other students and showed a readiness to use violence against UCI personnel.” At around 2:45 p.m., mutual aid was requested from outside police departments “to effectively manage an escalating threat involving hundreds of protesters.”
From then on, “standard police procedures governing the resolution of unlawful assemblies” took over, and senior administration played no role in directing police action.
UCI Divest and pro-Palestine students hold a walkout and protest at UC Irivne in Irvine on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 in the aftermath of last week’s protest in which police dispersed the protesters and dismantled the UCI Gaza Solidarity Encampment, arresting several students and other protesters. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Aftermath
There were questions about student suspensions, and if those are consistent with the university’s commitment to free speech.
“Once a peaceful protest escalates into civil unrest, it cannot revert back to being considered a peaceful protest,” administrators responded. “The campus has always safeguarded the rights of students to express all viewpoints and engage in lawful protests. But individuals do not have free speech rights to use force to take over instructional buildings and individuals do not have free speech rights to disobey lawful police orders to disperse after an unlawful assembly has been declared.”
We’ll be telling you more about the specific demands made by the students, and the administration’s responses, in coming days. But clearly, this battle is far from over.
On Memorial Day morning, more than two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman’s residence in University Hills. They carried posters with messages such as, “Over 40,000 dead, UCI painted red,” and “Get out Gillman” accompanied by a depiction of Gillman’s face and bloody handprints. “Howard Gillman, you won’t rest until UCI divest(s)!” some chanted.
Related Articles
UC Irvine leaders defend response to student protests in answers to Academic Senate
UC Irvine scientists find ‘Doomsday Glacier’ in Antarctica melting faster than expected
Who killed Alex Odeh, whose 1985 bombing death in OC was invoked by UCI protesters?
UC and USC grad student workers authorize strike over handling of campus protests
47 arrested in UCI protest, encampment crackdown Wednesday; Chancellor says ‘I’m brokenhearted’
