UCLA anti-Israel riots cost LAPD almost $600k
Kenneth Mejia, the Los Angeles City Controller, released data on May 28 revealing that the LAPD spent over $580,000 responding to recent student protests at UCLA.
The LAPD’s response to violence at the encampment involved nearly 600 police officers who put more than 8,500 man-hours into the operation.
Anti-Israel protests in California have taken a toll on local law enforcement’s financial resources.
Kenneth Mejia, the Los Angeles City Controller, released data on May 28 revealing that the LAPD spent over $580,000 responding to student protests at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) between April 30 and May 3.
The LAPD’s response to violence at the encampment involved nearly 600 police officers who put more than 8,500 man-hours into the operation.
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY 💰
As requested, the taxpayer cost of LAPD’s response to UCLA student demonstrations earlier this month was approximately $583,084. 🚔
LAPD is seeking reimbursement from Cal OES.
For more City Payroll transparency, visit our site: https://t.co/xrAEKLCwhG pic.twitter.com/3N04XzJh25— LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia (@lacontroller) May 29, 2024
The response effort, which involved nearly 600 police officers, centered around the anti-Israel encampment at UCLA set up on April 25. Although UCLA condemned Hamas in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, calling it a “sickening and incomprehensible” atrocity that “deserves and requires our collective condemnation,” university leaders also decided to allow protesters to erect and maintain an encampment “as an expression of students’ 1st Amendment rights.”
On April 30, the university declared the demonstration illegal following an incident during which a Jewish student was blocked from walking through the encampment. The school ordered the protesters to disband and warned them that those who failed to comply could face consequences.
That night, a mob attacked the protesters after they refused to disband. The attack continued for several hours and reportedly included fireworks, pipes, and wooden poles as weapons.
Mary Osako, the vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, published a statement during the attack, condemning those who took part in the violence.
“Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene,” the statement read. “We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end.”
Police officers broke up the skirmish around 3 a.m. on May 1.
The next night, police officers entered and dismantled the encampment. The officers clashed with protesters during the operation and arrested more than 200 who refused to cooperate with directions from law enforcement in the process.
[RELATED: Northwestern, Rutgers, and UCLA leaders all claim they don’t know who started encampments]
“We approached the encampment with the goal of maximizing our community members’ ability to make their voices heard on an urgent global issue. We had allowed it to remain in place so long as it did not jeopardize Bruins’ safety or harm our ability to carry out our mission,” Chancellor Gene Block wrote in a statement on May 2.
“In the end, the encampment on Royce Quad was both unlawful and a breach of policy,” he continued. “It led to unsafe conditions on our campus and it damaged our ability to carry out our mission. It needed to come to an end.”
Campus Reform has reached out to UCLA and the LAPD for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.