Several dozen men dressed in black with white masks repeatedly attacked UCLA’s pro-Palestinian protest encampment late Tuesday with crude weapons, including poles and incendiaries, according to video provided to CNN by William Gude, who routinely films and shares videos of police conduct in Los Angeles.
Gude told CNN he arrived at the encampment area before chaos broke out around 9:15 p.m. local time Tuesday, and says he filmed hours worth of footage, showing what led up to the incident and what followed.
He described the attackers as pro-Israel based on remarks they made in the video. His footage also shows at least two people with Israeli flags and another wearing a hoodie that reads, “Free our hostages.”
In a video shared with CNN, which captured what Gude says is the first 24 minutes of the incident, individuals dressed in black attempt to force their way into the encampment, as protesters inside used mace to defend themselves.
At times, individuals from each camp engaged in furtive, one-on-one skirmishes in the area between the two groups, though Gude described what he saw as “a sustained attack for three-and-a-half, almost four hours, by one side against the other.”
Multiple videos posted online show the attackers punching, kicking and hitting the pro-Palestinian protesters with sticks. Some videos posted on social media show officers at the scene but not engaging with the crowd.
Gude told CNN that about an hour into the attack, the UCLA Police Department arrived on scene. Later, the California Highway Patrol arrived, followed by the Los Angeles Police Department. None of the departments moved in to de-escalate the situation, Gude said, until about three hours later.
The LAPD referred CNN to UCLA police. CNN has reached out to all three departments and the university regarding the incident.
