The police union representing officers at University of California schools is criticizing UCLA administrators for the “lack of response” to violence that broke out at anti-Israel student protests on campus last week.

The union also called for an independent investigation into the response.

“UC administrators are solely responsible for the University’s response to campus protests, and they own all the fallout from those responses,” Federated University Police Officers Association president Wade Stern said in a press release Saturday.

Hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators set up an encampment on UCLA’s campus in Royce Quad last week to demand that the university divest from companies and institutions that are “complicit in the Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide of the Palestinian people.”

UCLA STUDENT SLAMS UNIVERSITY FOR ‘ENCOURAGING VIOLENCE,’ TURNING CAMPUS INTO ‘WAR ZONE’: ‘THIS IS A DISGRACE’

Early Wednesday morning, pro-Israel counter-protesters attacked the encampment, which started a clash between them and the anti-Israel protesters, Fox 11 reported. Fights broke out, fireworks were shot at demonstrators and items were thrown as part of the violence. 

Law enforcement initially stood by while the violence unfolded, according to Fox 11. Local police in riot gear did not respond to the scene until hours later. Law enforcement eventually moved in and cleared the encampment, and more than 200 protesters were arrested.

“”In the end, the encampment on Royce Quad was both unlawful and a breach of policy.,” UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement Thursday. “It led to unsafe conditions on our campus and it damaged our ability to carry out our mission. It needed to come to an end.”

Students told Fox 11 they were frustrated about the lack of response by the university. One security guard on campus said UCLA “could have stopped this a long time ago.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, condemned the violence and called for an investigation into the university’s response.

UCLA FALLS TO ANARCHY AFTER COUNTERPROTESTERS CONFRONT ANTI-ISRAELI ENCAMPMENT: ‘HORRIFIC ACTS OF VIOLENCE’

Clashes broke out on May 1, 2024, around pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of California, Los Angeles, as universities around the United States struggle to contain similar protests on dozens of campuses. (ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

University of California President Michael Drake said in a statement Wednesday that he has “requested a detailed accounting from the campus about what transpired” and that he is “ordering an independent external review of both UCLA’s planning and actions, and the effectiveness of the mutual aid response.”

The police union said in its statement Saturday that the investigation will “undoubtedly uncover multiple failures to implement and adhere to UC’s own guidelines for response to campus protests.”

According to the union, University of California policy states that each school is responsible for establishing a task force to respond to student protests on campus, but that those task forces have not been trained since 2020. The union said the University of California and its campuses “have not funded any training.”

CALIFORNIA STATE OFFICIALS CONDEMN VIOLENT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS AT UCLA

Counter-protesters attack a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as clashes erupt, in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. (ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

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The union also claimed that administrators told campus police to “stand down and stand aside” during the campus protests. The union said a Jewish student who called police asking for help because he was being blocked from a campus library was told by the dispatcher that administrators had told campus police not to intervene.

“The UCLA administration has much to answer for in the upcoming probe, and their adherence to established guidelines should play a central part,” the union’s statement said.

A southern California man was charged with sending death threats to Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis over her prosecution of Donald Trump, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia announced Friday.

Marc Shultz, 66, of Chula Vista, made his first federal court appearance in San Diego on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. He had been indicted by a federal grand jury on April 24 and will be formally arraigned in Atlanta in June.

Shultz allegedly threatened Willis’ life in several comments posted to YouTube livestream videos on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5, vowing to violently murder her. In the comments, he lobbed racial slurs at the D.A. and said she “will be killed like a dog,” according to the indictment and the U.S. Attorney’s release.

Willis, who is prosecuting Trump for alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, has been the target of racist threats since Trump’s indictment in August. Trump himself has been relentless in his criticism of her, launching both personal attacks and plain falsehoods.

“Threats of violence against government officials, specifically, threaten the very fabric of our democracy,” Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said. “We want everyone to know that if you engage in such behavior, you will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

In a statement, Willis thanked the U.S. Attorney in Northern Georgia for bringing the indictment and made a dig at Republican state Senator Bill Cowsert, who is investigating Willis for misconduct.

“On the same day Senator Bill Cowsert had the audacity to question whether an elected African American female District Attorney deserves protection from death threats, the United States Attorney and the FBI announced another indictment of someone who threatened my life,” Willis said.

“I thank US Attorney Ryan Buchanan, his staff and the FBI for believing the life of an African American elected official has value and for their diligent efforts in ensuring the safety of myself, my staff, and our families.”

Willis has faced the Trump team’s sustained attempts to oust her over an affair she had with a former special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, who she hired to lead the case. Judge Scott McAfee ultimately ruled that Willis could stay, on the condition that Wade would leave the case. Wade resigned shortly afterward.

Shultz’s threats were made months before Willis’ affair was uncovered.