Justice Department lawsuit says UCLA failed to protect Jewish employees from hostility

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is suing the University of California implicit allegations that UCLA failed to support Jewish employees from antisemitic harassment amid pro-Palestinian protests that roiled the field successful 2023 and 2024.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday successful California, is the latest escalation successful the Trump administration's run to punish apical universities that it says person been brushed connected antisemitism. The suit accuses the University of California, Los Angeles of failing to subject those who were progressive successful protests, including dozens who were arrested successful 2024 for failing to permission a field encampment.

Trump officials antecedently determined that UCLA failed to support Jewish students, and past twelvemonth UCLA reached a $6 cardinal colony with 3 Jewish students and a Jewish prof who sued the university. The caller suit alleges the harm to Jewish and Israeli employees "goes overmuch deeper" than the situations that colony addressed.

"The United States volition present bash what UC has frankincense acold failed to do: support Jewish and Israeli employees" from antisemitic harassment, said the lawsuit, which was filed against the University of California, which consists of 10 campuses, but focuses connected allegations against UCLA.

The University of California referred a petition for remark to UCLA, which said Tuesday it has taken "concrete and important steps" to fortify field security, enforce policies and combat antisemitism. It did not notation the national government's lawsuit.

"Antisemitism is abhorrent and has nary spot astatine UCLA oregon elsewhere," Mary Osako, UCLA's vice chancellor for strategical communications, said successful the statement.

Much of the national ailment focuses connected the 2024 protestation encampment that national officials accidental blocked Jewish employees and students from parts of field and included antisemitic signs and chants. One night, counterprotesters attacked the encampment, throwing postulation cones and firing capsicum spray, with warring that continued for hours, injuring much than a twelve people, earlier constabulary stepped in. The adjacent day, aft hundreds defied orders to leave, much than 200 radical were arrested.

The 81-page suit alleges UCLA violated its ain policies by tolerating the encampment and accuses the assemblage of failing to subject immoderate students, module oregon unit implicit antisemitic behavior.

"UCLA's medication turned a unsighted oculus to - and astatine times facilitated - grossly antisemitic acts and systematically ignored cries for assistance from its ain terrified Jewish and Israeli employees," the Justice Department alleges successful the lawsuit.

The suit asks a justice to unit UCLA to enforce its ain anti-discrimination policies and to "award damages," without specifying an amount, to Jewish employees astatine UCLA who faced a hostile enactment environment.

The assemblage has said it has taken galore steps toward improving field information and inclusivity, including the instauration of an Office of Campus and Community Safety and caller policies to negociate protests connected campus. UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk, whose Jewish begetter and grandparents fled to Mexico to flight Nazi Germany and whose woman is the girl of a Holocaust survivor, launched an inaugural to combat antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias.

"We basal firmly by the decisive actions we person taken to combat antisemitism successful each its forms, and we volition vigorously support our efforts and our unwavering committedness to providing a safe, inclusive situation for each members of our community," Osako said successful the university's statement.

The Trump medication has chiefly focused connected elite backstage universities successful its run to triumph obedience from campuses it accuses of wide and antisemitic bias. UCLA is 1 of the fewer nationalist universities targeted successful that effort.

Last summer, the Trump medication said it was seeking $1 cardinal from UCLA arsenic portion of a colony to extremity national scrutiny. Trump officials had chopped hundreds of millions of dollars successful national backing from the university, though a national justice ordered the wealth to beryllium restored successful September. In November, that aforesaid justice barred the national authorities from fining UCLA. ___ Gecker reported from San Francisco.