Meghna Nair, a second-year student at UCLA, sensed trouble when she saw a masked group approaching the pro-Palestine encampment late Tuesday night.
“I knew where they were going.
I had an idea what they planned to do,” she said.
“I didn’t know what to do.”
The chaos that erupted on campus that night, and the slow response from authorities, left Nair and other students shocked.
The masked group descended upon the encampment, throwing fireworks and violently attacking the students there.
Reports from multiple sources indicated that campus security locked themselves in nearby buildings, and police stood by for hours without intervening.
Due to the violent attack, UCLA canceled all classes on Wednesday.
The usually vibrant campus was eerily quiet, with a helicopter hovering above, and security guards and police officers stationed near the cordoned-off encampment.
As students passed by, they slowed to absorb the somber scene.
Noah, a law student who preferred to be identified by his first name, described the events as terrifying.
“This is like sacred ground to me,” he said, gesturing to the campus.
“It reminded me of January 6. It was terrifying.”
Protests over the Gaza conflict have continued across university campuses, including UCLA.
Nair mentioned that the initial demonstrations were peaceful when the encampment was first established.
“It was beautiful.
It was really amazing to see so many young people come together like that all on their own,” she said.
However, tensions had been escalating, with some Jewish students expressing concern about antisemitic behavior from certain demonstrators.
Logan Cyr, a UCLA law student, noted the division and unrest on campus.
“It’s been absolute chaos and complete division,” he said.
Cyr, who faced antisemitism recently, criticized the university for allowing protests to continue in a manner that encouraged conflict.
Earlier in the week, clashes occurred as pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups gathered on campus.
Some incidents involved shouting, shoving and attempts to breach barriers between opposing sides.
Daniel Harris, a fourth-year student, witnessed the rising tensions firsthand.
After the university chancellor deemed the encampment “unlawful,” he saw a group of people in black with white masks marching toward the encampment, reminiscent of a scene from “The Purge.”
Harris described the shock he felt when violence erupted, with people breaching the barricade, throwing chairs, and beating others with sticks.
Media reports indicated that police and security failed to intervene for hours as the violence unfolded.
Nair expressed frustration at the lack of response.
“They just let it happen. And it was up to the students to protect themselves,” she said.
The Los Angeles Police Department referred questions about the incident to UCLA’s campus police, the “lead agency” in the investigation.
The university’s chancellor mentioned that they were “gathering information,” and the incident could lead to “arrests, expulsions, and dismissals.”
Nair was disheartened by the violence directed at the students who participated in the peaceful protest.
“They didn’t start this.
This was a peaceful protest,” she said.
“Those people, as far as I know, were just random people coming onto our campus, full-grown adults, and they started attacking kids.”
Cyr believed the attackers were not associated with the pro-Israel demonstrations and came with the intent to incite violence amid the chaos.
Despite his disapproval of the encampment, he stated, “I can never stand behind that sort of violence.”
Noah predicted that this week’s events would lead to even greater division within the campus community.
“The campus community is really fractured—and this is really only going to increase it now,” he said.
