UCLA police arrest young man for alleged assault in attack on pro-Palestinian encampment

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly a month after counterprotesters attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, police made their first arrest, arresting an 18-year-old who is neither a student nor affiliated with the school. in any way, officials said Friday.

UCLA has not identified the suspect, but online county jail records show Edan On, 18, was arrested by UCLA police at 8:46 a.m. Thursday at a Beverly business Hills and jailed on $30,000 bail.

Last week, CNN identified On as a Beverly Hills high school student who was seen in videos wearing a white mask and white hoodie hitting a pro-Palestinian protester with a wooden pole during the April 30 attack on the campus encampment .

Counterprotesters threw traffic cones, threw pepper spray and threw live mice into the encampment, sparking fights that lasted hours before police intervened, drawing criticism from Muslim students and political leaders . Police said at least 15 people were injured, although pro-Palestinian supporters put the number at 25.

UCLA officials said the attack involved “a group of instigators.”

“During this violence, an individual was seen on video attacking the occupants of the camp with a wooden pole, causing serious injuries to at least one victim,” the university said in its press release on Friday. adding that the suspect was arrested at the UCLA Police Department on felony charges. assault with a deadly weapon.

On's mother wrote in Hebrew in a now-delayed Facebook post that “Edan went to intimidate Palestinian students in the UCLA tents” and included an image of the person in the white hoodie that was broadcast on the local news, CNN reported. The outlet said his mother confirmed to CNN that the man in the video was her son, although she later said he denied being at UCLA.

Neither On nor his mother could be contacted by The Associated Press.

On Thursday, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, who was among leaders of three universities called to testify at a congressional hearing about the wave of protests on campus against the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, expressed remorse over the school's handling of the camp attack.

“Tragically, it took law enforcement several hours to quell the violence,” Block said. “In hindsight, we should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment if and when the safety of our community was threatened. »

The night after the attack, hundreds of police various agencies flocked to the campus and dismantled the encampment. On Wednesday, the UCLA police chief was reassigned “pending a review of our security processes,” according to a statement from the school.

Protesters attempted to set up a new encampment at UCLA on Thursday, but left when they were ordered to disperse. A crowd of protesters marched elsewhere on campus, and a small group later staged a sit-in inside a building before police cleared them.

The arrest followed an investigation that included interviews with victims and witnesses as well as reviews of security camera footage and publicly available videos from the public and media.

The release said university police are investigating all reported acts of violence associated with protest or counter-protest activities since April 25.