Police let violent mobs attack UCLA students. This is what lawlessness looks like

UCLA watched the chaos unfold in the middle of the night and did nothing until it was far too late.. But something else is sliding past popular attention: the meaning of the events at UCLA. Vigilantes staged an assault on unarmed civilians and the state let it happen. This has occurred many times before in US history, particularly when the victims were African American. Still, it is historic… Is this the mayhem Trump promises at every rally? Is this what we can expect if he loses the election – or if he wins? Have the brownshirts been unleashed? Whatever it augurs, the eve of May Day 2024 must be marked.

Judith Levine

Things had been tense at the University of California, Los Angeles, with some ugly jibes and the occasional shove exchanged between students who support Israel’s war on Gaza and those who have set up encampments to call for a permanent ceasefire and the university’s divestment from companies that arm and otherwise profit from Israel’s occupation and military incursions in the Palestinian territories.

But what happened in the middle of the night last Tuesday was no scuffle. It was not even one more of the outsized, excessively brutal raids that college administrations have invited the police to inflict on their students.

Since the previous Thursday, groups of ever-more aggressive counter-protesters had beset the Palestine solidarity tent village on UCLA’s Dickson Plaza. Then, just before 11pm on 30 April, at least a 100 masked young men stormed the camp. They announced their presence by blasting the sounds of screaming babies from loudspeakers. They shined strobe lights, sprayed irritant gases and launched firecrackers at the encampment. One landed in the middle of the tents, eliciting screams from the occupants. The besieged protesters called for help – at least five people were already injured – but none came…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/article/2024/may/06/ucla-protester-mob-attack

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