A UCLA student is suing the university for racial discrimination, claiming he was blocked from entering parts of the campus because he was mistaken for being Israeli, despite being black and Christian.
Milagro Jones alleges that he was prevented from accessing certain areas of the campus by what he described as “white liberals” who were part of an anti-Israel encampment set up on campus last May.
“It was a violent encampment. It was an antisemitic encampment, and I was a victim of what they had going on,” Jones explained to Fox News.
“And there were many … [other] victims … The only difference is … I took it upon myself to record a lot of it, and that is why they got angry enough to smash my phone down on the steps, because they understood that by me recording, by me being a First Amendment auditor of what they were doing, I exposed them, and they did not like that,” he continued.
Jones’ lawsuit asserts that the anti-Israel encampment targeted him because of his race, mistaking him for an “Israeli agitator” despite being black. The lawsuit states, “The problem here for these [defendants] was that the Plaintiff was none of these things. He was a student who was denied access to public space.”
Jones has previously supported the pro-Palestinian movement on college campuses but has since changed his stance, realizing that the movement has been overwhelmingly antisemitic.
“I was lied to,” Joes explained.
“When I was introduced to the Free Palestine movement … we thought it was something that it wasn’t. It’s really about … wanting to get rid of Israel as a sovereign nation, wanting to get rid of America as a sovereign nation,” he said. “When that came to light, I understood that all I could understand was supporting my nation, America, and my ally Israel. And at the end of the day, I do not support Hamas. I do not support terrorism.”
The lawsuit also accuses UCLA of failing to enforce its policies by allowing the encampment to remain on campus, alleging that the university caused the incident “as a direct and proximate result of Defendant University’s negligence and breach of its duty of care to provide a safe and sane environment.”
The pro-Palestine encampment, which has been on campus since the spring, has routinely been accused of having students harass and attack Jewish students and anyone perceived to be pro-Israel.
In response to the lawsuit, UCLA stated, “UCLA remains committed to supporting the safety and wellbeing of the entire Bruin community and we will respond to this filing in due course.”
