This post was updated Feb. 6 at 10:25 p.m.

Pro-Palestine protesters demonstrated outside UC Regent Jay Sures’ Brentwood house early Wednesday morning.

The protest, organized by Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, began before 7:30 a.m. Protesters put red handprints on Sures’ garage door and caution tape throughout his front yard. A rain-soaked paper sign lying on the street hours later said “divest now, or you will pay.”

Around 50 protesters participated in the demonstration, a Testudo Guard Private Security worker said. Sures said his family was “rattled” by the protest but declined to comment further at the time.

UC Office of the President spokesperson Stett Holbrook condemned the protest in an emailed statement to the Daily Bruin, adding that the University is working with local law enforcement to further investigate the incident.

“Yesterday, the private residence of UC Regent Jay Sures was vandalized, and his family and neighbors were harassed,” he said in the statement. “The University strongly supports freedom of speech and the rights of our community members to participate in nonviolent protests, and we condemn all crimes and harassment committed against members of our UC community.”

Sures introduced a policy to the UC Board of Regents in January 2024 prohibiting academic departments from making political statements on the homepages of their websites. While Regent Richard Leib, who co-authored the policy, called it “content-neutral,” some people have alleged it targets pro-Palestine speech in particular.

[Related: UC Regents votes to pass Item J2 following months of revision and deferred voting]

“He has attempted to intimidate students and faculty who spoke out against the genocide in Gaza,” Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA said in an Instagram post.

A neighbor, who was granted anonymity for safety concerns, said in an emailed statement that the protest began around 6 a.m. and ended around 8 a.m. About 20 police officers responded to the protest, they said.

The neighbor also said in the statement that they were pushed by a protester after they attempted to film the demonstration. Protesters chanted “intifada revolution” and held a banner that read “Jonathan Sures you will pay, until you see your final day,” they said.

Three police cars remained outside the house around 8:45 a.m. Wednesday. Police officers outside Sures’ house declined to comment on the incident, referring the Daily Bruin to a Brentwood Police Department media relations email, which did not respond in time.

Sures is the vice chairman and managing director of the United Talent Agency, which represents the Anti-Defamation League, an organization seeking to stop antisemitism and frequently advocates for Israel. 

He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Governors for the governing body of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Both laboratories develop and test U.S. nuclear weapons.

Additionally, Sures is a board member of the Los Angeles Police Department Foundation, which raises money for the LAPD. 

Protesters had previously demonstrated outside Sures’ house in December 2022, according to an X post from the United Auto Workers 4811, a union representing academic student employees and researchers.

SJP at UCLA condemned Sures’ involvements in the ADL, Livermore and Los Alamos laboratories, and the LAPD Foundation in a Wednesday Instagram post.

“Jonathan ‘Jay’ Sures is one of the unelected officials responsible for protecting UC investments in genocide and weapons manufacturing,” SJP said in the post. “We refuse to stay silent and allow his relationships with LAPD & ADL to go unexposed.”