Police conspired to violently attack anti-genocide protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles last year, according to a suit filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court.
At the height of the school’s encampment against Israel’s war on Gaza last spring, one of hundreds across the country, a mob of pro-Israel protesters attacked pro-Palestine protesters for more than four hours. On the night of April 30, 2024, police stood by and watched as counter-protesters aimed and shot fireworks, sprayed chemical agents, harassed, and sexually assaulted pro-Palestine protesters, students and faculty alleged last month in a separate, ongoing lawsuit.
Protesters are now suing the state of California, which oversees California Highway Patrol, and the city of Los Angeles, which oversees the LAPD, for violence against the demonstrations. The police fired more than 50 rounds of rubber bullets at protesters, striking several people in the head; some of the injuries sent demonstrators to the hospital.
The projectiles shattered bones in one student’s hand and required her to undergo surgery and extensive rehab. Another person, who police shot in the head, was diagnosed with internal bleeding. (The governor’s office referred questions to California Highway Patrol. CHP and LAPD said they would not comment on pending legislation. UCLA did not respond to a request for comment.)
They didn’t point out explicitly in the article (though there was a recommended linked article) that rubber bullets are considered “less lethal” munitions - now euphemised as “less than lethal”. When the LAPD and others aim them at protesters heads they are doing so knowing that there is a high likelihood of a permanent injury and a significant potential for a fatality. Protest and peaceful assembly are rights under the law in the US and the police act as anti-American thugs when they take these actions against peaceful protesters - which to be clear is almost all protesters.
If you attend protests I strongly recommend wearing head and eye protection and reading guides from ACLU etc to know your rights and best courses of action to deescalate if confronted by police. Nobody should die or face lifelong injuries because some cop couldn’t control his rage that day.
ACLU protesters faq: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights
Protesters PPE Guide from Union of Academic Students/Postdocs & Researchers (University of Washington branch) https://www.uaw4121.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Guide-to-PPE.pdf
LEOs having a boner for fucking up demonstrators is one of the ways we know we’re in an authoritarian hellhole. In a Democracy, a real one, the police just make sure nobody is harmed and nothing is damaged. Also, if the subject wasn’t Palestine, I bet the violence wouldnt be nearly as bad. Some foreign influence definitely at play here.
Reciprocate.
