In contrast to police statements, volunteer medics said they treated serious wounds as UCLA’s pro-Palestinian protest was besieged by police and counterprotesters, including some injuries that appeared to be caused by “less lethal” projectiles fired by cops.
Resident physician Elaine Chan and medical student Sonia Raghuram volunteered as medics during pro-Palestinian protests at UCLA this month. They described treating protesters with bleeding wounds, head injuries, and suspected broken bones in a makeshift clinic cobbled together in tents with no electricity or running water.In these challenging times, the need for reliable local reporting has never been greater. Put a value on the impact of our year-round coverage.
At times, the escalating violence outside the tent isolated injured protesters from access to ambulances, the medics said, so the wounded walked to a nearby hospital or were carried beyond the borders of the protest so they could be driven to the emergency room. The medics’ interviews directly contradict an account from the Los Angeles Police Department. After police cleared the encampment, LAPD Chief Dominic Choion the social platform X that there were “no serious injuries to officers or protestors” as police moved in and made more than 200 arrests.Police officers, including some reportedly armed with shotguns loaded with “less lethal” projectiles, clash with protesters at UCLA.
“The use of force and any incident involving the use of a weapon by CHP personnel is a serious matter, and the CHP will conduct a fair and impartial investigation to ensure that actions were consistent with policy and the law,” the Highway Patrol said in its statement. Jack Fukushima, a UCLA medical student and volunteer medic, said he saw police shoot at least two protesters with “less-lethal” projectiles during the encampment raid on May 2, 2024.Back on the front line, police had breached the borders of the encampment and begun to scrum with protesters, Fukushima said. He said he saw the same officer who had fired earlier shoot another protester in the neck.“I find him, and I’m like, ‘Hey, are you OK?’” Fukushima said.
The UCLA protest is one of many that have been held on college campuses across the country as students opposed to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza demand universities support a ceasefire or divest from companies tied to Israel. Police have used force to remove protesters at Columbia University, Emory University, and the universities of Arizona, Utah, and South Florida, among others.
Charlotte Austin, 34, a surgery resident, said that as counterprotesters were attacking she also saw about 10 private campus security officers stand by, “hands in their pockets,” as students were bashed and bloodied.
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