This article is published on behalf of UCLA Radio’s News Department. Any perspectives shared below do not reflect the views of ASUCLA Student Media.
On Thursday 19 September 2024, the UC Board of Regents held their second day of meetings at the Luskin Conference Center. While multiple items were discussed in their agenda, including salary increases for high-level administration and collective bargaining with unions, their most controversial item was the approval of military equipment for use by UC police departments.
As mandated by California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 481 passed in 2021, UC Police Departments are required to submit to the Regents an annual report for each type of military equipment specified in the policy. It also requires that the Board reviews the report and annually approves a renewed policy and equipment list.
In a document directed to the Compliance and Audit Committee, the Board of Regents indicated that equipment in the scope of AB 481 was minimally used and that “zero complaints or concerns” were received regarding the use of this equipment. In a post by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCLA, the organization wrote that this report was “falsified,” stating that they “will not stand for the rewriting of history so as to elevate [the UC Regents’] fascist methods and genocidal pursuits. This is premeditated warfare.” AFSCME 3299 also posted a statement declaring that they “stand firmly against UC’s decision to invest in militarized weapons which we can only assume are intended to suppress the free speech of students and workers exercising their right to protest.”
UCLA is requesting to purchase drones, robots, munition, and less-lethal weapons. These include FN Herstal 303 launchers, 4 Pepper Ball VK-SBL, 3,000 FTC Pava Capsaicin Rounds, 100 Rounds of Def-Tec 40mm munitions (Model #6320) and 300 rounds of Def-Tec 40mm munitions (Model #6325). This request for new equipment follows a recent slew of policies regulating free speech established by the UCLA and UC administrations, including:
- UC-wide Campus Climate Efforts policies on expressive activities:
- Bans the use of masks to conceal one’s identity, encampments, unauthorized structures, and activities “restricting free movement”
- Mandates revealing one’s identity if requested by university personnel
- UCLA’s revised Time, Place, and Manner (TPM) policies:
- Limits protesting to “Areas for Public Expression,” which do not include the locations of past encampments
- Requires UCLA approval for “temporary housing structures”
- Restricts campus activities between the times of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., with place restrictions on the distribution of food within this time
- Limits the use of amplified sound and restricts protest-related activities (e.g. marching, picketing, carrying signs)
- Requires UCLA approval for events on campus as “Organized Events” or “Major Events”
- Requires that events do not disrupt campus activities
- Makes event organizers liable for security costs (equipment rentals, services and staffing costs, UCPD, etc.)
- UC-wide J2 Bill:
- Prohibits university departments from posting political statements on social media or department websites
At 11:30 a.m., approximately 50 UC Divest Coalition members gathered outside the Luskin Conference Center to protest against these policies, chanting, “UC Regents, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” They awaited the meeting’s open session, originally scheduled almost a year ago for 12:00 p.m. However, security did not allow the public into the Luskin for over an hour, with CSC officers using their bikes to form a blockade in front of the venue entrance.
While the protesters waited, speakers rallied crowds outside the Luskin: “Right now, the UC regents are trying to pass AB 481. The UC is requesting military-grade weapons to shoot our peers. This is fascism, funded by our tuition money.”
At 1:20 p.m., the entrance was eventually opened, and approximately 30 protesters went inside after passing security screening. At this time, the UC Regents were discussing the use of less-lethal weapons on campus, with one Regent justifying their use in the “case of an active shooter.” In response to this, one audience member exclaimed, “Why did you shoot us?” – referring to the police brutality in June at UCLA’s Palestine Solidarity encampment, where officers in riot gear shot rubber bullets and threw flash bangs at peaceful protesters, injuring, arresting, and detaining dozens of students.
Following this remark, a UC Regent addressed the audience member, stating, “If you disrupt again, we will end this meeting and it will not be productive for anyone. If you have concerns, you can send a letter to the UC Regents.” This was met with disapproval from the audience, with further questions being demanded of the UC Regents regarding their use of military equipment and investment in corporations enabling Israel’s war in Palestine, such as Blackrock Inc, one of the largest investors in the weapons and war industry.
The UC Regents abruptly adjourned the meeting and filed out of the room, with audience members chanting, “Free Palestine!,” “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” and “Don’t hurt the students!” While the protesters chanted peacefully, a UCPD squad in riot gear entered the conference room and moved the protesters out of the building, following them to the security entrance and assembling a blockade.
Once the officers moved back inside the building, the members of UC Divest regrouped outside the Luskin, with a closing speaker addressing the crowd: “We have already been brutalized for our peaceful protest, and they’re buying weapons to brutalize us more. They are promising violence against us, and yet we stand here, chanting.”
To see news updates published in real time regarding the UC Board of Regents meeting, see our thread on X (formerly Twitter).
