Pro-Palestinian Activists Sue U.C.L.A. Over Encampment Attack

The lawsuit says the university did not protect the activists from counterprotesters. Jewish students are also suing the university, saying it did not protect them from pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Pro-Palestinian activists are suing the University of California, Los Angeles, accusing it of allowing pro-Israel counterprotesters to terrorize and assault people at an encampment set up on campus last spring.

The pro-Palestinian camp became a major flashpoint in the conflict over the war in Gaza and over how universities responded. The demonstrators have accused the school and various police forces of failing to protect them and shutting down the camp without legal justification, after it was attacked by pro-Israel activists over the course of several hours one night in April.

But Jewish students said the university allowed the camp to stay for days, even though it had created a hostile environment and prevented them from entering some parts of campus.

The new lawsuit, announced on Thursday, came the same week the Trump administration joined a separate lawsuit filed by Jewish students and a Jewish professor, in June, accusing the university of failing to protect them from the pro-Palestinian activists. The administration says it is also investigating complaints of antisemitism at a growing list of universities, including U.C.L.A., through a federal task force.

The new complaint was filed on behalf of 35 pro-Palestinian activists, including students, faculty members, legal observers, journalists and sympathizers. It also names 20 people as defendants who are described as members of a “rioting mob.”

Filed in superior court in Los Angeles County, the lawsuit seeks monetary damages for physical and psychological injuries suffered by the protesters.