Edan On of UCLA arrested; identified in attack on protesters

More than three weeks after a group of counter-protesters attacked a pro-Palestinian camp at the University of California, Los Angeles, one person has been arrested in that case.

Edan On, 18, was arrested Thursday and held on $30,000 bail, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. CNN identified 18-year-old On as one of the attackers in a special report last week.

Campus police, who did not name On, said in a statement that an 18-year-old man “seen on video attacking camp residents with a wooden pole” was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Police said the arrest followed an investigation that included interviewing victims and witnesses and “reviewing surveillance camera footage and publicly available video from citizens and media outlets.” They said the man was not a student or member of UCLA faculty or staff.

The On family did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

On’s arrest appears to be the first in the attack, which became the focal point of anti-war demonstrations in Gaza that took place on college campuses across the country this spring.

The attack on the UCLA camp

The pro-Palestinian camp had occupied the school’s Dickson Plaza about a week before the attack. Counter-protesters had demonstrated outside the camp at least two nights earlier, but no violence had occurred.

Then, late on the night of April 30-May 1, counter-protesters began attacking the pro-Palestinian protesters. Live streamed videos from that night showed a series of brutal beatings that lasted for hours.

UCLA issued a statement saying it “immediately requested mutual aid from police.” But police arrived nearly three hours later. None of the counter-protesters were arrested at that time.

A day later, several police forces raided the pro-Palestinian camp and cleared it from campus. According to the university, at least 200 people were arrested when the camp was shut down. The university said the camp was cleared in part because “clashes between protesters and counter-protesters had put too many Bruins at risk.”

The university has been repeatedly asked how it dealt with the counter-protesters who started the violence. Six days after the attack, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the university was “determined to find those responsible.”

University police said on Friday they were “actively working to identify additional perpetrators of violence in connection with protest or counter-protest activities.”

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