Thirty-five pro-Palestine protesters, many of who participated in last spring’s Palestine solidarity encampment, announced Thursday they will be suing the UC, UCLA, police forces and counter-protesters.

Attorneys for the Los Angeles chapter of the Council for American-Islamic Relations filed the suit Wednesday against UCLA, requesting damages in response to the violence and violation of protesters’ civil rights. Other defendants in the lawsuit include the UC Board of Regents and University President Michael Drake, UCPD, LAPD and California Highway Patrol – three police forces that were present during the sweep of the first Palestine encampment – and individual counter-protesters who allegedly attacked the encampment April 30, said Thomas Harvey, a civil rights attorney representing the students.

The plaintiffs and their attorneys hosted a press conference outside the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center, where the UC Board of Regents are meeting Tuesday to Thursday. Around 30 people, many of whom wore keffiyehs, watched the conference, which was also observed by UCLA Student Affairs Monitors and UCPD officers.

The Daily Bruin was unable to independently verify if the court had accepted the plaintiff’s suit. 

UC Office of the President spokesperson Stett Holbrook said in an emailed statement that the University is gathering information about the lawsuit. He added that the UC rejects violence and discrimination in all forms.

“We want to be clear: the University of California unequivocally rejects all forms of hate, harassment and discrimination,” Holbrook said in the statement. “Violence of any kind has no place at UC.”

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

The lawsuit said it seeks to hold UCLA accountable for allowing Islamophobia, anti-Palestine and anti-Arab discrimination, and the violation of the civil rights of pro-Palestine protesters. Lawyers for the protesters added in the lawsuit that they also hope to hold counter-protesters involved in the April 30 attack responsible for their actions.

Counter-protesters began attacking the first Palestine solidarity encampment around 10:50 p.m. April 30, throwing fireworks and tear gas into the area. Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications Mary Osako said in a 12:12 a.m. statement May 1 that law enforcement had been called for immediate support, but police did not intervene until more than two hours later.

The lawsuit claims that UCLA failed to protect students in the encampment April 30, as police forces stood by and failed to arrest any counter-protesters that night. It further alleges that UCPD, LAPD and CHP used “excessive physical force” against pro-Palestine protesters when sweeping the encampment May 2 and during arrests made following protests June 10, using flashbangs and less-than-lethal weapons. 

[Related: Hundreds of protesters detained after police breach pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA]

Dina Chehata, an attorney for the students, said that free speech principles have been applied inconsistently at UCLA, evidenced by the fact that the university did not intervene when pro-Israel protesters attacked the encampment. 

“Free speech in this country should never be silenced just because you don’t agree with it. Plain and simple,” she said. “Although UCLA said nothing while our clients were terrorized and beaten, we have something to say today – we’ll see you in court.”

Chancellor Julio Frenk announced Feb 12 that Students for Justice in Palestine and Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, will be suspended following a protest held by the two groups outside of UC Regent Jay Sures’ Brentwood home Feb. 5, leaving red handprints on his garage door and caution tape in his front yard.

[Related: Chancellor Julio Frenk announces suspension of two pro-Palestine student groups]

Harvey added that he believes it is crucial to stand up for free speech in the context of President Donald Trump’s new administration. He said that he believes the Department of Justice’s task force to “combat antisemitism” – which announced it would visit UCLA to investigate discrimination claims – will attempt to limit pro-Palestine speech.

“This lawsuit is being filed at a moment where UCLA is about to be visited by the Department of Justice, who are looking to further criminalize pro-Palestinian speech,” he said. “Are we going to sacrifice these courageous students and faculty?” 

[Related: Department of Justice opens investigation into antisemitism allegations at UC]

Afnan Khawaja, an alumnus who graduated in December, said he wants to call attention to violence enacted on pro-Palestine protesters both by counter-protesters and police forces. The lawsuit names campus policing leaders including Scott Scheffler, the interim chief of UCPD, and Rick Braziel, the former associate vice chancellor of campus and community safety.

The plaintiffs are seeking financial compensation for the injuries they have sustained, Thomas said.

Khawaja added that he struggled to sleep or walk on campus following the attack and had to seek therapy services. Binyamin Moryosen, a fourth-year English student who is Jewish, said he believes UCLA has also exhibited antisemitism by silencing criticism of Israel. 

“The University showed me how much they value my voice as an Israeli American. They stood by for four hours as fireworks rained down on us,” he said. “The university did not care about my voice.”

Thistle Boosinger, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the encampment attack left them with a shattered hand, a severed nerve and chronic pain, taking away their source of income as a taiko drumming instructor. She added that UCPD, CHP, LAPD and private security watched the attack occur and did “absolutely nothing.”

“I learned what it feels (like) for fireworks to go off within several feet of your body,” said Boosinger, who is not affiliated with UCLA. “I learned what it feels like for your clothes to be drenched in mace so that every inch of your body, your eyes, the inside of your mouth, burns like it’s on fire.”

[Related: Medics, physicians recall ‘dystopian’ violence of encampment attack and sweep]

Boosinger also said they first decided to join the protests last spring because they believe the UC should divest from companies associated with the Israeli military, which they said is complicit in a genocide. Graeme Blair, an associate professor of political science, added that the university has refused to engage in negotiations over divestment.

Blair, a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine, said the university is also using threats of retaliation, including student hearings, to try to silence pro-Palestine protesters. Blair also separately announced that he was suing the university in October, seeking the expungement of UCLA’s disciplinary records.

“Last spring, I stood alongside a group of students at UCLA who were protesting a genocide and our university’s complicity in it,” Blair said. “I joined because of their clarion call for justice for the tens of thousands of Palestinians murdered, wounded, displaced and starved.”

Robin Kelley, a distinguished professor in the history department and a member of the UCLA Taskforce on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Arab, & Anti-Muslim Racism, said his task force has published multiple reports detailing what he said was administrative hostility toward pro-Palestine activism and added that he believes the university is no longer safe for pro-Palestine activists.

Sherene Razack, the task force’s chair, added that her task force has not been taken as seriously as a similar task force set up at the same time to address antisemitic and anti-Israeli bias. Frenk announced an initiative to implement the latter task force’s recommendations March 10 but made no reference to Razack’s task force in the announcement.

“The asymmetry of the Chancellor’s response to the two task forces is glaring,” said Razack, a distinguished professor of gender studies. “We strongly recommend the affirmative and active protection of the rights of students and faculty at UCLA to work on Palestine and to speak freely on Palestinian rights without fear of repression or punishment.”

[Related: Chancellor Julio Frenk announces plan for new Initiative to Combat Antisemitism]

The lawsuit could take around a year to reach its conclusion, Chehata added. Harvey added that although the plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial, it is possible that some of them will settle their claims.

“The lawsuit seeks to hold those who engaged in violence, harassment, and intimidation against Palestine solidarity activists accountable and remedy the failure to protect them,” CAIR said in the press release.