By Stephen Witt, Los Angeles County Politics
The U.S. Department of Justice yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against the Regents of the University of California, accusing administrators at UCLA of standing by while Jewish and Israeli students were beaten, pepper-sprayed, and physically barred from campus buildings — and charging that the university’s deliberate inaction violated federal civil rights law.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, names the Regents of the University of California — the governing body overseeing all ten UC campuses — as the sole defendant. Neither UCLA nor any individual administrator is named.
The DOJ alleges the Regents violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race and national-origin discrimination at institutions receiving federal funding, and separately alleges breach of contract for signing Title VI compliance certifications while allowing discrimination to persist.
The 53-page complaint — which includes photographs, images of antisemitic graffiti, and discriminatory messaging found on campus — details a pattern of alleged discrimination beginning October 7, 2023, reaching a flash point with the April 25, 2024 encampment at Royce Quad, and continuing through January 2026.
The complaint alleges that occupiers formed “human phalanxes” to physically block Jewish and Israeli students from entering academic buildings, distributed wristbands restricting access to those who supported their demands, and armed themselves with pepper spray and lumber. One Jewish student was knocked unconscious with an open head wound and hospitalized. Another was told by an assailant, “Hitler missed one.”
“By April 30, students wearing a Star of David or a kippah, or those refusing to denounce their Zionism — which for many Jews, but not all, is akin to renouncing their Jewish faith — were physically blocked by the protesters’ phalanxes from entering or passing through the occupied area of Royce Quad, entering Royce Hall, or entering Powell Library,” the complaint states.
UCLA’s official guidance to affected students was to “avoid the area if they wish.” The university publicly characterized the encampment as “free expression.” The complaint states UCLA “took no meaningful steps to enforce its own rules” and “accommodated the occupiers by turning off the sprinklers on Royce Quad.” Police did not clear the encampment until May 2, 2024 — a full week after it was established.
Campus-Wide Institutional Failure
The complaint goes beyond student conduct, alleging that multiple UCLA academic departments actively supported the encampment while remaining silent about violence against Jewish and Israeli students. Among those named: the Department of Asian American Studies, the Center for the Study of Women, the Department of Art, the Department of Design Media Arts, the Mathematics Department, the Department of Architecture and Urban Design, and the Department of Anthropology.
Two senior administrators are also named. Former Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Anna Spain Bradley is alleged to have condemned counter-protesters while offering no condemnation of attacks on Jewish students. Assistant Vice Chancellor for Civil Rights Chandra Bhatnagar — whose office was responsible for investigating antisemitism complaints — is named alongside allegations that his wife, UCLA law professor Sunita Patel, participated in the encampment while masked and described it as “a liberation zone.”
The complaint catalogs at least 13 separate UCLA rules and California laws violated by the encampment from its first hours, and charges the Regents enforced none of them. Of 245 arrests referred to the Los Angeles City Attorney, charges were declined in every single case — attributed in part to UCLA’s own “failure or inability to assist in identification or other information needed for prosecution.”
The DOJ is seeking a declaration that the Regents violated Title VI, a permanent injunction, appointment of an independent federal monitor, mandatory policy reforms, and repayment of all federal grant money paid to UCLA during its period of noncompliance. Since October 7, 2023, UCLA has received more than $2.5 million in DOJ grants alone.
The Regents previously rejected a Trump administration demand to pay $1 billion to settle the broader federal antisemitism investigation. Governor Gavin Newsom called that demand “a billion-dollar political shakedown” and “disgusting political extortion.”
This is the second federal civil rights lawsuit the Trump administration has filed against the Regents this year. In February, the DOJ filed a separate suit alleging a hostile work environment against Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff under Title VII. That case remains pending.
In response to yesterday’s federal complaint, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said the suggestion that UCLA has been passive in the face of antisemitism is simply wrong.
“Combating antisemitism is a moral imperative — one rooted, for me, in personal history that makes indifference unthinkable. In the past year alone, we’ve taken numerous concrete actions to combat antisemitism,” said Frenk.
“We recruited an associate vice chancellor for campus and community safety. We reorganized our Civil Rights Office. We appointed a Title VI officer. And we strengthened our policies to protect both free expression and the safety of every member of our community,” he added.
Frenk’s office also noted that about two weeks ago, on May 14, UCLA’s Initiative to Combat Antisemitism released a report outlining a roadmap to address antisemitism and bigotry on campus, and that UCLA recently received a vastly improved Campus Report Card grade from the Anti Defamation League (ADL) and the UCLA Jewish Faculty recently penned an open letter condemning the DOJ’s Title VII lawsuit against UCLA.
In a separate statement, UC President James B. Milliken said it was disappointing that this most recent lawsuit shows no recognition of or respect for Frenk’s antidiscrimination efforts.
“This litigation — and other actions taken by the federal government targeting the University of California — does nothing to aid our ongoing efforts to address antisemitism and create safe and welcoming campus environments for all members of our community,” Milliken said.
