West
Jewish students file lawsuit against UCLA over anti-Israel encampment on campus
Three Jewish students filed a civil rights lawsuit against the University of California Board of Regents and university officials, claiming UCLA allowed “antisemitic activists” to prevent Jewish students from walking to classes, offices and the library on campus during anti-Israel demonstrations in April and May.
Two law students and an undergraduate student allege that UCLA allowed a group of students and outside demonstrators to set up an encampment, and that these demonstrators prevented Jewish students and faculty from accessing the heart of campus, according to the complaint.
This comes amid the ongoing war in the Middle East between Hamas terrorists and Israeli forces, which stems from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks against Israel that led to a retaliatory military response from Israel.
Since Oct. 7, anti-Israel demonstrations have been observed on college campuses across the U.S. and around the world. Other lawsuits have been filed over the campus protests by students claiming their universities failed to keep campuses safe. Schools facing lawsuits include Rutgers University and Columbia University, which this week settled with a Jewish student who brought a lawsuit against the university over an “unsafe educational environment.”
COLLEGES HIT WITH LAWSUITS OVER HANDLING OF ANTI-ISRAEL CAMPUS PROTESTS
Hundreds of students protest outside the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
The complaint against UCLA said the university allowed protesters to set up an encampment that enforced a “Jew Exclusion Zone,” stopping Jewish students and faculty from accessing the encampment and other parts of campus unless they agreed to disavow Israel’s right to exist. The activists used checkpoints, issued wristbands, built barriers and often locked arms to prevent Jewish students and faculty from passing through.
UCLA’s administration was aware of this for a week without taking action, according to the complaint, which also said UCLA instructed security staff to discourage unapproved students from attempting to cross through the areas blocked by the activists instead of clearing the encampment.
“If masked agitators had excluded any other marginalized group at UCLA, Governor Newsom rightly would have sent in the National Guard immediately,” said Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the three Jewish students. “But UCLA instead caved to the antisemitic activists and allowed its Jewish students to be segregated from the heart of their own campus. That is a profound and illegal failure of leadership.”
“This is America in 2024—not Germany in 1939. It is disgusting that an elite American university would let itself devolve into a hotbed of antisemitism,” Rienzi continued. “UCLA’s administration should have to answer for allowing the Jew Exclusion Zone and promise that Jews will never again be segregated on campus.”
Since Oct. 7, anti-Jewish demonstrations have been observed on college campuses across the U.S. and around the world. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)
UCLA said in a statement it is aware of the lawsuit and that it will review and respond in due course. The university said it remains committed to supporting the safety and well-being of the entire campus community.
According to the plaintiffs, activists within the encampment “viciously targeted” Jewish students on campus.
Plaintiff Yitzchok Frankel, a law student and father of four, said he faced antisemitic harassment and was forced to abandon his regular routes through campus because of the “Jew Exclusion Zone.”
Demonstrators allegedly repeatedly blocked plaintiff Joshua Ghayoum, a sophomore and history major, from accessing the library and other public spaces, and he claims to have heard chants at the encampment that included “death to Jews.”
UCLA STUDENT TEARS INTO ‘SQUAD’ FOR ‘GLORIFYING’ ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS: THEY SHOULD BE ‘ASHAMED’
Graffiti at the Powell Library on the UCLA campus where anti-Israel demonstrators erected an encampment on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images)
The third plaintiff, law student Eden Shemuelian, said her final exam studies were severely compromised when she was forced to walk around the encampment and immerse herself in its antisemitic chants and signs to access the law school’s library.
The students are asking the court to ensure that Jews will never again face this kind of treatment on UCLA’s campus.
Police eventually cleared the UCLA encampment and arrested more than 200 people after a delayed law enforcement response.
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Las Vegas (Nev.) Arbor View quarterback Thaddeus Thatcher announced his commitment to Oregon State and broke down why he chose the Beavers.
After taking official visits to Oregon State, UNLV, UCF and Michigan, the talented signal caller announced for the Beavers moments ago.
“I’m very excited about my decision,” Thatcher said. “Coach Shep (Jamarcus Shephard) has assembled a really great staff and I’m really excited to work with coach (Mitch) Dahlen.
“Coach Dahlen has worked with so many draft picks and it’s really exciting to have the opportunity to be developed by someone like him.”
The potential to compete for early playing time was another big factor for Thatcher.
“They’re going to give me a chance to compete for a spot right away,” Thatcher said. “That’s something I was interested in and so I’m excited about the opportunity.
“My whole family gets along with the entire Oregon State staff and we really believe in Coach Shep. I really think he’s going to be able to get things back on track and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
We originally had a commit prediction in for Michigan with Thatcher and there was strong buzz he was close to committing following his unofficial visit back in early April.
Thatcher decided to take his official visits instead and the Beavers hosted him on May 29. Oregon State started to build momentum with Thatcher following the trip and the Beavs were able to hold off strong competition.
Thatcher is one of the region’s top dual-threat quarterbacks and two-sport athletes. He’s a talented basketball player as well but his fixture is on the grid-iron.
As a junior, Thatcher completed 168-240 passes (70%) for 2,625 yard and 29 touchdowns with just five interceptions. He also rushed for 605 yards and seven more scores and will be a four-year starter for the Aggies, one of the top teams in the state.
New Mexico
New Mexico AG launches criminal investigation into DEA over allegations agents let fentanyl flood state
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New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Friday announced a criminal investigation into allegations that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) knowingly allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach New Mexico communities while agents pursued larger criminal investigations.
The inquiry comes days after The Associated Press reported that DEA agents repeatedly monitored—but did not seize—large fentanyl shipments between 2023 and 2025 while attempting to build broader criminal cases.
Torrez said the investigation will examine potential legal remedies, including criminal prosecution, civil litigation and structural reforms intended to prevent similar conduct by DEA agents in the future.
“The families who have lost children, siblings, and parents to fentanyl deserve the truth about what the federal government knew and what it failed to do,” Torrez said in a statement.
‘ILLICIT’ VERSION OF FENTANYL LINKED TO DEADLY NEW MEXICO INCIDENT THAT SICKENED FIRST RESPONDERS
Photo released by the DEA shows fentanyl pills seized in New Mexico on April 28, 2025, as the agency faces scrutiny over allegations it allowed other shipments to reach the streets. (DEA via AP)
“If the DEA stood by while poison flooded our communities, that is not a bureaucratic failure,” he continued. “It is a betrayal of the people it was sworn to protect.”
Torrez said his office “will pursue every legal avenue available to hold the responsible parties accountable and make certain this never happens again.”
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called for the investigation earlier this week, saying she was “appalled” by allegations that federal agents knowingly allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach communities across the state.
NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYED TO BLUE CITY OVERRUN WITH JUVENILE CRIME, FENTANYL IS ‘NOT ENOUGH,’ STATE GOP SAYS
New Mexico’s attorney general has opened a criminal investigation into allegations that DEA agents allowed large fentanyl shipments to reach local communities while pursuing larger criminal cases. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
“Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway,” Grisham said. “The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.”
Grisham also pointed to allegations that DEA agents monitored the delivery of 74,000 fentanyl pills to a mobile home park in Albuquerque without intervening.
COLORADO DRUG BUST UNCOVERS CARTEL-CONNECTED ILLEGAL ALIENS, APPROXIMATELY 130K FENTANYL PILLS
DEA Special Agent David Howell, who filed a whistleblower complaint, poses for a portrait outside the U.S. district courthouse in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
“Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets,” she said.
Current and former DEA agents, including whistleblower David Howell, told the AP the agency’s tactics gambled with public safety and may have violated Department of Justice guidelines.
While the DEA initially denied Howell’s allegations in a statement to the AP, the agency later requested that the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General conduct an independent review.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HALTS DEA’S RANDOM SEARCHES OF AIRPORT TRAVELERS AFTER REPORT FINDS ‘SERIOUS CONCERNS’
Fentanyl pills seized by the DEA in New Mexico on April 28, 2025. New Mexico officials have since launched a criminal investigation into allegations involving the agency’s handling of separate fentanyl shipments. (DEA via AP)
“Should that review identify areas of improvement, the DEA will of course implement changes to better their practices,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “We welcome a partnership with Governor Lujan Grisham, as well as New Mexico state and local leaders, to fight the scourge of fentanyl and keep her constituents safe.”
The allegations stem from enforcement operations conducted during the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, even as the DEA promoted its “One Pill Can Kill” public awareness campaign warning that even a small amount of fentanyl can be fatal.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the DEA for comment regarding the investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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