By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The police chief for the College of California at Los Angeles, who was criticized for the dealing with of a violent mob assault in Might on pro-Palestinian activists encamped at UCLA, has left the campus police division.
“December 10, 2024, was former UCLA Police Chief John Thomas’ last day with UCLA and the UCLA Police Department,” the division mentioned on Thursday.
UCLA Police Captain Scott Scheffler will function interim police chief till a everlasting chief is chosen, the division added.
The assertion didn’t give particulars on the rationale for his departure. Thomas couldn’t instantly be reached for remark. He informed the Los Angeles Instances in Might he did “everything I could” to supply safety and maintain college students secure.
Thomas was “reassigned temporarily” three weeks after the assault in Might, pending an examination of safety processes, in keeping with UCLA.
In one of the vital violent incidents from U.S. protests associated to Israel’s warfare in Gaza, masked assailants, described by officers as “instigators,” stormed the tent camp of pro-Palestinian protesters with golf equipment and poles. The encampment occupants mentioned fireworks have been additionally hurled at them.
The state of affairs continued for no less than three hours into the early morning of Might 1 earlier than police moved in and restored order.
California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the “limited and delayed campus law enforcement response” as unacceptable.
The next night time, a whole bunch of state and native law enforcement officials raided the protest encampment, arresting over 200 folks.
The disturbances had thrust UCLA to the middle of mounting weeks of tensions at dozens of U.S. school campuses, which noticed protests towards Israel’s warfare that has killed virtually 45,000 within the final 14 months in Gaza, in keeping with the native well being ministry, and led to genocide and warfare crimes accusations that Israel denies.
Israel’s assault adopted a lethal Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Palestinian Hamas militants which killed 1,200, in keeping with Israeli tallies, and sparked the newest bloodshed within the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian battle.
Anti-war protesters have opposed Washington’s assist for Israel and the humanitarian state of affairs in Gaza the place practically your complete inhabitants has been displaced and a starvation disaster exists.
