Justice Department files statement of interest in support of Jewish UCLA students, faculty

The statement relates to incidents that took place during the height of anti-Israel protests and tent encampments on university campuses in the spring of 2024. According to the allegations outlined in the filing, Jewish students at UCLA were blocked from entering parts of campus if they were wearing articles reflective of their Jewish faith or if they refused to denounce Israel—an act a federal judge stated was “unimaginable” and “abhorrent.”

The plaintiffs—a group of Jewish students and a Jewish professor—allege that the university “knowingly acted in concert” with or allowed members of the protest encampment to prevent them from accessing a central campus space and adjacent classrooms and library based on their Jewish faith or national origin.

“Discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated in our community,” said Joseph McNally, acting U.S. attorney for the central district of California. “Our office will enforce anti-discrimination laws to address the issue of antisemitism affecting our residents.”

Mary Osako, vice chancellor for strategic communications at UCLA, stated that the school “is committed to eradicating antisemitism.”

“Chancellor Julio Frenk, who joined UCLA in January, has a strong track record of combating antisemitism and is actively at work to help UCLA achieve our goal of fostering an environment where all members of our community are able to live, work and learn freely and peacefully,” Osako said. “We recently launched the Initiative to Combat Antisemitism that brings together members of the Bruin community and civic leaders to work toward our shared, unwavering goal of extinguishing Antisemitism.”

In February, the Justice Department announced it would be visiting 10 university campuses that have experienced antisemitic incidents since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. U.S. President Donald Trump also withheld $400 million in funding from Columbia University for “inaction” in combating campus antisemitism.

Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights and leading task force member, acknowledged that “every student must be free to attend school without being discriminated against on the basis of their race, religion or national origin.”

“The Department of Justice is working to combat antisemitism using all of the tools at our disposal,” he added.