Civil Rights Groups Say Law Enforcement Violated Students’ Rights
Civil rights attorneys representing demonstrators at UCLA have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police Department of using excessive force to disperse a peaceful pro-Palestinian encampment on campus last spring.
The suit, announced Thursday by the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) and several prominent civil rights law firms, alleges that hundreds of officers in riot gear engaged in violent crowd control tactics during a joint law enforcement operation between the night of May 1 and early hours of May 2, 2024.
According to the complaint, officers dismantled the Palestine Solidarity Encampment by tearing down barricades, beating protesters with batons, and firing more than 50 rounds of rubber bullets at close range without legal justification. Several students and community members sustained serious injuries, including head trauma, broken bones, and internal bleeding. One individual required surgery, attorneys said.
You can watch the press conference here:
The lawsuit names both the CHP and LAPD as defendants and seeks a judicial declaration that their actions violated constitutional protections, including freedom of speech and assembly. Plaintiffs are also requesting compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief to prevent similar tactics from being used in future protests.
Legal representation for the plaintiffs includes CAIR-LA, Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai LLP, the Law Office of Colleen Flynn, Ricci Sergienko, Kleiman/Rajaram, and the Law Offices of Thomas B. Harvey.
The protest in question was part of a broader national movement calling for divestment from companies allegedly complicit in violence against Palestinians. The UCLA encampment had remained peaceful until police moved in to forcibly clear demonstrators from campus grounds.
Law enforcement agencies have not yet commented on the lawsuit, but this is yet another lawsuit filed against the city and the county’s police forces for alleged excessive force in 2025, when the city of Los Angeles is already facing serious budget deficits. The incident remains under scrutiny as civil rights groups continue to raise alarms over police response to student demonstrations.
