Justice Department sues UCLA for the third time, alleges antisemitism against students

The Trump administration filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court alleging UCLA violated federal law by tolerating a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students. The complaint links the alleged failures to antisemitic harassment following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. It centers on a 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment and related rallies, including an incident involving a violent melee on April 30, 2024. Federal officials seek repayment of federal grant funds potentially totaling hundreds of millions, restrictions on new federal contracts until compliance, and an independent court-appointed monitor. The lawsuit also requests reforms to UCLA’s antidiscrimination procedures.

"The Trump administration on Tuesday sued the University of California alleging that UCLA is "deliberately indifferent" to antisemitic harassment of Jewish students, marking the government's third lawsuit against the UC system this year and a sharp escalation of federal civil rights pressure on the nation's largest public research university."

"The 53-page complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges UCLA violated federal civil rights by tolerating a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The attack prompted Israel's war in Gaza, which drew widespread student protests and pro-Palestinian encampments that spring, including one at UCLA that was the site of a violent melee the night of April 30 2024."

"The government is asking the court to force UCLA repay federal grant money going back more than two years - potentially hundreds of millions of dollars - bar it from new federal contracts until it's deemed in compliance with civil rights law, and install an independent court-appointed monitor that would oversee its civil rights practices. The department is also asking for the court to force reforms to UCLA's antidiscrimination procedures."

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