L.A. City Attorney Declines Charges for Most UCLA, USC Protest Arrests
Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced Friday that her office will not pursue criminal charges in the vast majority of cases stemming from mass arrests during protests at UCLA and USC last year, a decision with implications for students from Inglewood, Compton, and South Los Angeles who attend these institutions.
After reviewing more than 300 referrals related to arrests made during campus demonstrations last April and May, the City Attorney’s Office declined to file charges in most cases, citing insufficient evidence or lack of cooperation from the universities in identifying suspects or providing key information.
“After careful consideration, we are filing criminal charges against two individuals and sending three others to City Attorney Hearings,” Feldstein Soto said in a statement, thanking her Criminal Branch attorneys for “their dedication to the rule of law and their commitment to objectively evaluating the evidence.”
The decision comes nearly a year after the pro-Palestinian encampment protests and shortly after 31 protesters who blocked the 110 Freeway were charged. Those protesters, primarily members of the Jewish pro-Palestinian group If Not Now, successfully argued in court that the charges against them constituted selective prosecution.
At UCLA, all 205 arrests from May 1-2 and 40 arrests from May 6 were declined due to insufficient evidence. Similarly, at USC, 93 arrests from an April 24 protest were declined.
However, two individuals will face charges. Edan On, who was 18 years old at the time and reportedly a student at Beverly Hills High School, was charged with battery and brandishing a weapon in connection with the UCLA protests. Matthew Katz was charged with battery, false imprisonment, and resisting arrest.
Additionally, three individuals were referred to City Attorney Hearings, an informal diversionary process designed to avoid formal misdemeanor charges. Those individuals are Ali Abuamouneh and Karla Maria Aguilar, both arrested at USC, and David Fischel, arrested at UCLA.
The City Attorney’s announcement noted that the majority of attackers on the UCLA encampment on April 30 and May 1, estimated to be around 100 masked individuals, were never arrested. Only three others have been charged for what witnesses described as assaults and firing explosives into the camp.
This decision affects many South Los Angeles area students who participate in campus activities at these universities, including those from Inglewood and Compton communities who have been monitoring these cases over the past year.
