LOS ANGELES.–Proving that California is the right place to engage in crime, 56-year-old Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom provided no guidance for the unlawful pro-Palestine protests at California’s college campuses. No State of California property can be hijacked by protesters, no matter what the cause, including civil rights. Newsom knows that hijacking and ransacking administration buildings on Univ. of Calif. or Cal State University campuses is strictly prohibited under anyone’s interpretation of Free Speech laws. Watching the violence erupt last night at UCLA’s quad, in front of Royce Hall and Powell library shows how 75-year-old Chancellor Gene Block has lost his way, knowing that any encampment on UCLA property is strictly prohibited. Yet Block focuses on so-called “outside” agitators, accusing pro-Israel demonstrators of stirring up a hornet’s nest at last night’s mayhem.
Block has allowed professional agitators to camp out with homeless-like tents furnished not by UCLA but by pro-Palestine Adalah Justice Center who receives funding from San Francisco-based Tides Center, heavily funded by leftist billionaire George Soros. Soros, 93, doesn’t know how his generous donations from his Open Society Foundation, run by his son Alex, are used to fund professional revolutionaries in the U.S. and around he planet. Whether Soros knows it or not, he’s still responsible for how his fortune is spent on various causes. Watching the same tents, keffiyehs, posters and Palestine flags at all college campus demonstrations speak volumes about who funds the protests. Watching 63-year-old hippie, agitator Lisa Fithian show up yesterday at Columbia University’s occupied Hamilton Hall speaks volumes about the fake Palestine protests.
Fithian goes anywhere she’s paid to agitate, at George Floyd rallies, Occupy Wall Street, anti-fossil fuel, pro-Climate Change events speaks volumes about how the current cause can easily morph into anything that meets the whim of professional anarchists like Fithian. Newsom knows that Block permitting pro-Palestine protesters to camp out on UCLA campus is outrageous. Newsom promised to get to the bottom of what Block is attempting to do by allowing pro-Palestine agitators to camp on UCLA campus. Newsom said he will hold UCLA officials accountable, “including through criminal prosecution, suspension or expulsion,” referring to UCLA officials, not just student agitators. Block said nothing about allowing an illegal encampment in the heart of UCLA’s campus. Whether pro-Israel demonstrators provoked the encampment or not, the encampment is illegal.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams took the bull by the horns moving in the NYPD to remove Columbia’s illegal encampments and occupation of Hamilton Hall. Newsom looks on from afar watching the NYPD restore law-and-order in the Bronx at Columbia University. “The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus,” Newsom said, serving notice to Block that he can’t let the illegal pro-Palestine encampment continue without police intervention. Newsom called in the California Highway Patrol, a California State law enforcement agency which has jurisdiction on state property like the UCLA police. But, last night, everyone saw the lack of police presence fueling the anarchy that ran through the night. No free speech demonstrator has the right to seize state property like the pro-Palestine encampment.
California Highway Patrol works closely with the LAPD inside city limits, where police have authority on city streets. Whether or not UCLA is actually on state property, Block can’t cede Calif. property to pro-Palestine demonstrators. Newsom Spokesman Izzy Gardon said the lack of police presence on UCLA prompted the Highway Patrol to act. But Highway Patrol, as its name states, it not designed to deal with a fracas in the heart of UCLA campus. Gardon said there were “unacceptable” delays in getting law enforcement to campus. Block knows that he can contact LAPD to restore order on campus at anytime. Like Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, Block has been reluctant to call in the LAPD to remove the illegal encampment between Powell Library and Royce Hall. Block must decide when to rid the campus of the illegal pro-Palestine encampment.
UCLA Chancellor Block has it all wrong that group of “instigators” came on campus to make trouble. Block knows he cannot cede Calif. State property to pro-Palestine demonstrators who have pitched homeless-like tents with proper sanitation on UCLA campus. Block admitted that the anarchy seen last night was unacceptable. “It has shaken our campus to its core and—adding to other abhorrent incidents that we have witnessed and that have circulated on social media over the past several days—further damage our community’s sense of security,” Block said. Block announced today that all classes had been cancelled on UCLA’s sprawling campus. Block should take a lesson from Columbia and clear out the campus. Without ending the encampment there’s no way to restore order on campus. UCLA officials should not negotiate with lawless .pro-Palestine agitators.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
