Second Report of the UCLA Task Force on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Muslim, and Anti-Arab Racism: the Militarization of Campus

Task Force Members:

Gaye Theresa Johnson, Co-Chair; Sherene H. Razack, Co-Chair; Ali Behdad; Aomar Boum; Robin D.G. Kelley; Saree Makdisi; Shannon Speed; and three members who wish to remain anonymous.

Introduction

More than a month has passed since our last report of May 13, 2024, and the situation at UCLA has actually worsened. As we await the installation of a new Chancellor in January 2025, the interim administration has thus far stepped back and allowed Rick Braziel, appointed by Chancellor Block to head the newly created Office of Campus Security, to take charge. Chancellor Block created the office unilaterally, without a search, a vetting process, faculty or staff input—and not even a consideration that Braziel’s appointment might be temporary or interim.

The university is now overrun with police and private security, draining precious financial resources without making our community any safer—indeed, making it far less safe for students and faculty exercising their constitutionally protected right to protest, and criminalizing protest across the board. We have heard repeatedly from students in a variety of contexts that the police presence on our campus makes them feel unsafe, and we have witnessed aggressive policing actions taken toward our students.

As our Task Force understood from its inception, there is more at stake here than academic freedom. The Palestine Solidarity Encampment, along with other actions, rallies, teach-ins, and the like, have never wavered from the core issue: the killing, maiming, starving, and displacing of Palestinian people—in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as well as in Gaza.

Our specific charge is to address the increased harassment, violence, and targeting of our Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities, and anyone subjected to discrimination, repression, and marginalization for their Palestinian solidarity advocacy. We have concluded that the militarization of our campus, the persistent attacks on students, faculty, and staff for supporting ceasefire, divestment, and disclosure, and the punitive measures deployed by the administration toward anyone even mildly critical of Israeli policies, have made UCLA less safe than ever for Palestinian, Arab, Muslim students and faculty, and for those in solidarity with Palestinians.

For these reasons, we are calling for a thorough, independent investigation of law enforcement, the administration, and forces (internally and externally) who violently assaulted student protesters—not just on April 30, but as late as June 10. By thorough, we insist on an investigation that extends beyond the window of April 30 – May 6. And by independent, we categorically reject the idea that highly paid consultants with direct ties to law enforcement can conduct a serious, critical, objective investigation.

We are also calling for the rapid reduction of police and private security on campus, the elimination of the Office of Public Safety, and the dismissal of Rick Braziel. If there is going to be a new entity overseeing campus security, it should be created as part of a process of shared faculty governance, the creation of a joint faculty, student, and staff committee representing a wide range of campus interests, and its director should be chosen by a national search well beyond the self-referential, closed-circuit world of law enforcement.

We are demanding that the administration drop all criminal charges against students, faculty, and staff, and suspend the various disciplinary processes. Instead, we expect the interim administration to begin negotiating with campus leaders and faculty, as well as students, in good faith over the university’s investments and financial transparency.