Man seen on video using wooden pole to attack UCLA pro-Palestinian encampment is arrested

An 18-year-old man who was allegedly captured on video using a wooden pole to attack a pro-Palestinian encampment last month at the University of California, Los Angeles, was arrested, campus police said.

The man was allegedly part of a "group of instigators" who assaulted encampment occupants at Royce Quad on April 30, UCLA police said in a statement.

Authorities accused the group of violently attacking students, faculty and staff. One person was seen on video "assaulting encampment occupants with a wooden pole," leaving one person seriously injured, police said.

The 18-year-old, who campus police did not name, was detained Thursday at a Beverly Hills business in connection with the assault. He was booked for felony assault with a deadly weapon and is being held at the Los Angeles County jail on a $30,000 bail.

He was identified through online jail records as Edan On. Police said he is not a student, faculty or staff member at the school.

Chaos erupted late in the evening when a mob descended on the encampment spraying aerosol irritants, tearing down barricades, beating people with metal poles and wooden planks and launching fireworks, The Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student-run newspaper, reported.

Former student Ismael Sindha, who was at the encampment, told the newspaper that he saw people crying, lying on the floor and "bleeding from their heads."

The clash went on for hours before law enforcement officers arrived, igniting criticism over the department's slow response. As a result, UCLA police chief John Thomas was temporarily reassigned, pending an examination of the security processes, the school said in a statement Wednesday.

Thomas told the Los Angeles Times in an interview earlier this month that he did "everything I could" to provide security and keep students safe during weeks of unrest over the Israel and Hamas war.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza has led to intense divides on U.S. college campuses. Pro-Palestinian protests, some of which have been met with law enforcement crackdowns, have been held at numerous campuses in response to the war and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, did not say what Thomas' new role would be. Gawin Gibson was named acting chief of police.

Campus authorities said they are still working to identify other people involved with protests or counterprotest activities between April 25 and May 2.