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USAC officers announce additional arrests, warrants related to encampment attack

A protester from the Palestine solidarity encampment and a counter-protester fight using objects that were lying on the ground. Multiple Undergraduate Students Association Council officers announced that they were informed Friday by Associate Vice Chancellor of Campus Safety Rick Braziel of additional arrests related to the April 30 attack on the encampment. (Daily Bruin file photo)

By Gabrielle Gillette

Oct. 18, 2024 8:02 p.m.

This post was updated Oct. 20 at 5:59 p.m.

Three student government leaders announced additional arrests related to the April 30 counter-protester attack against the Palestine solidarity encampment at UCLA. 

The arrests were announced in a transparency report posted to Instagram on Friday evening by Undergraduate Students Association Council President Adam Tfayli, Internal Vice President Josh Garland and External Vice President Javier Nuñez-Verdugo. The report said two individuals have been arrested on felony charges with primary hearings scheduled, and two more individuals have active warrants for arrest – one with a felony warrant and one with a misdemeanor warrant. The report also said there is one additional case being reviewed by United States Attorney for the Central District of California E. Martin Estrada’s office.

One of the individuals with felony charges was Eyal Shalom – who was coined by several accounts as “#UCLAMaroonHoodie” on X, formerly Twitter. Shalom was arrested for illegal use of tear gas May 1. Journalist Dolores Quintana took to X in May saying Shalom pepper sprayed her in the eye, while another man shone a light on her face. 

There are no proceedings set for Shalom’s case at the time of this article’s publication. 

The other individual arrested with felony charges, Malachi Joshua Marlan-Librett, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon – not firearm – as well as special circumstance allegations of a hate crime and a use of a deadly weapon from May 1. Marlan-Librett, who graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2020, was also charged with two felony counts of battery from April 28. 

Marlan-Librett – who was first identified by CNN as an April 30 attacker in May – is set to have a preliminary hearing Nov. 22 at Airport Courthouse.

On April 30, counter-protesters staged an attack on the Palestine solidarity encampment using fireworks and tear gas, though police did not respond for several hours and no arrests were immediately made. Early in the morning May 2, more than 200 people were arrested during a police sweep of the encampment.

In an interview, Tfayli said USAC was informed Friday of the charges listed in the report by Associate Vice Chancellor of Campus Safety Rick Braziel, adding that they are public information. 

[Related: Pro-Israel counter-protesters attempt to storm encampment, sparking violence]

USAC has been working with Braziel, Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Life Mick Deluca and Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Development and Health Suzanne Seplow to advocate for student safety on campus, according to the report. 

“Over the past few months, we have worked closely with campus administration to ensure justice is served and to maintain transparency about the process,” the report said. 

UCPD and UCLA Media Relations did not respond in time to requests for information about the arrests.

UCPD made its first arrest in late May, booking 18-year-old Edan On for felony assault with a deadly weapon. However, in June, his charges were downgraded from a felony to a misdemeanor by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón. 

Tfayli said the report was released for the sake of transparency with the student body.

“Besides that one case (the arrest and charging of On), … most students haven’t heard anything about the attack on the students on April 30,” he said. “It’s definitely important to provide that information.”

In a May email, Braziel said UCLA was committed to investigating the April 30 attacks and was working with UCPD, neighboring police agencies and the FBI on the cases.

“UCPD is committed to investigating all reported acts of violence and is actively working to identify the other perpetrators of violence associated with protest activities,” Braziel said in the email.

Contributing reports by Shiv Patel, campus politics editor.

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Gabrielle Gillette | Metro editor
Gillette is the 2024-2025 metro editor. She is also a fourth-year gender studies student minoring in English from Santa Cruz.
Gillette is the 2024-2025 metro editor. She is also a fourth-year gender studies student minoring in English from Santa Cruz.
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