As California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear dispersed pro-Palestinian protests at UCLA on May 2, they regularly aimed or fired their less-lethal weapons at protesters in ways that appear to go against training guidelines or state law.
Just before 4 o’clock on Thursday morning, three CHP Special Response Teams with batons formed a skirmish line outside Royce Hall at UCLA. Some officers behind and next to them carried shotguns loaded with beanbag rounds or 40mm launchers with sponge rounds, less-lethal munitions referred to as a “pain compliance device” by its manufacturer.
A review of CalMatters video from inside the encampment documented at least 25 instances in which those officers appeared to aim their weapons at the eye level of protesters or fired them into crowds that didn’t appear to present an immediate threat to life or serious injury. In some instances, the officers approached kneeling protesters with the launchers aimed at point-blank range.
Law enforcement officers across the state are trained that these types of munitions “shall not be aimed at the head, neck or any other vital organs,” according to guidelines from California Commission on Peace of Officers and Standards Training. “We do not train to point at people’s heads unless it’s a deadly force situation,” said Travis Norton, a retired police lieutenant who developed a course on the use of less-lethal weapons for the commission.
The weapons could accidentally discharge and seriously harm protesters. The manufacturer of beanbag rounds, Combined Tactical Systems, warns that, “Shots to the head, neck, thorax, heart, or spine can result in death or serious injury.”
In 2021, California outlawed the practice of shooting less-lethal munitions at people merely to disperse them, after their use caused serious injuries during demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. The law restricts officers from using them except when there is a “threat to life or serious bodily injury.”
In response to CalMatters’ questions, CHP Director of Communications Jamie Coffee said that officers did indeed face a threat from protesters. “When certain demonstrators in the unlawful assembly became assaultive and posed an immediate threat to officers by launching objects and weapons, some officers used kinetic specialty rounds to protect themselves, other officers, and members of the public,” she said.
Protesters do not appear to attack or threaten the CHP officers in the videos recorded by CalMatters, including the same videos in which police are seen aiming or firing less-lethal munitions. No battery or assault charges have been announced against protesters.
Under the law, CHP must post a report on the use of impact munitions online within 90 days. Unlike the Los Angeles police and sheriff’s departments, CHP does not widely use body cameras and officers from the special response teams did not appear to wear them during their raid of the UCLA encampment.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office deferred questions to CHP. The agency didn’t directly respond to CalMatters’ request for evidence that protesters represented a serious threat to officers, but Coffee said CHP will open an investigation into the use of force at UCLA. “The use of force and any incident involving the use of a weapon by CHP personnel is a serious matter, and the CHP will conduct a fair and impartial investigation to ensure that actions were consistent with policy and the law. We welcome any videos and/or evidence that could assist in our evaluation efforts,” Coffee said.
Former police officers with expertise in handling protests were troubled by some of the CHP officers’ behavior.
Jeff Winneger, who oversaw investigations into officer-involved shootings and significant use of force incidents at the Los Angeles Police Department, said overall law enforcement handled the protests in a measured way, but said he was “shocked” by the actions of this masked officer, who fired a number of bean bag rounds in succession into a crowd.
“He fired that single bean bag round, paused and fired another three rounds in rapid succession,” said Winnegar, who oversaw the policing of protesters at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. “Bag rounds are meant for a single target, used for an individual engaged in a violent act, not indiscriminately into a crowd.”
After reviewing the videos, Winneger said he didn’t see evidence of a threat to life or serious bodily injury, officers around the officer didn’t react like there was, and there was no apparent effort made to arrest anyone. What’s more, the officer in question was wearing a balaclava that concealed his face. “Those things need to stop,” he said.
Norton said hiding your face is not standard procedure. He assumed there must be a legitimate reason since the officer’s supervisors were on site. “I don’t know why he’s wearing it,” he said. “We don’t wear a balaclava unless it’s freezing cold outside. It’s the perception. We have to maintain legitimacy with our communities.” CHP refused to explain why an officer was wearing a balaclava.
The agency said it “has developed a well-structured Officer Safety and Civil Disturbance training program to ensure uniformed personnel are up to date with current mandates. This training is regularly evaluated and updated to incorporate new laws and regulations, techniques, and instructional methods.” According to the Commission on Peace of Officers and Standards Training database, CHP has not offered a civil disobedience training course in over 22 months, the furthest the database goes back.
LAPD Police Chief Dominic Choi said there were no serious injuries from the clearing of the encampments, but at least one protestor was hospitalized with wounds from impact munitions fired by law enforcement, according to the LA Times.
The student protesters had established the encampment on April 25. Law enforcement cleared it the night after pro-Israeli counterprotesters were allowed to attack pro-Palestinian protesters for hours without a police response.
The raid on the encampment began at around 3:50 a.m. and lasted approximately an hour and a half. Here are some instances in which officers aimed or fired their launchers at protesters. (The incidents happened in crowded spaces; we’ve filtered the images to leave only the primary players in color to make the action easier to decipher.)
4:42 a.m. – Two CHP officers aim 40mm launchers near the head of a woman wearing candy cane pajamas at point-blank range. The woman appears to be attempting to get her backpack.
3:56 a.m. – A CHP officer aims a shotgun with bean bag rounds at point-blank range near the heads of protesters who are kneeling and holding on to fencing.
3:56 a.m. – A CHP officer uses the barrel of a beanbag shotgun to repeatedly strike the hands of a kneeling protester trying to keep a section of wood fence upright.
“We don’t train that,” Travis Norton said. “We don’t train to hit people in the hand with a less-lethal device. You could cause an accidental discharge. You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where somebody can grab it and now you’re in a fight for the weapon.”
4:01 a.m. – A CHP officer aims a 40mm launcher at eye level of a crowd of protesters. Norton noted that the officers appeared to be using the weapons for their flashlight, something that’s problematic. If they needed visibility, they should’ve used a flashlight – not a weapon, he said. “If that is, in fact, what they were doing, then that’s a training issue that needs to be addressed,” he said. He said aiming at the head should be reserved only for “deadly force,” since the munitions can kill someone.
4:36 a.m. – A CHP officer aims a 40mm near the heads of protesters. Wenninger and Norton said that officers with less-lethal munitions are supposed to be watching for life safety issues behind a first line of officers known as the “skirmish line.” They’re not supposed to be the first line of contact with protesters – an officer with a baton should be.
4:39 a.m. – A CHP officer fires an impact projectile from a 40mm launcher towards a crowd of protesters. Training guidelines specify that rounds should “minimize the possible incidental impact of their use of kinetic energy projectiles and chemical agents on bystanders, medical personnel, journalists or other unintended targets” and “ONLY if the use is objectively reasonable to defend against a threat to life or serious bodily injury to any individual.”
3:56 a.m. – A CHP officer sweeps the barrel of a 40mm launcher at protesters’ eye level.
3:57 a.m. – A CHP officer appears to use his 40MM launcher as a flashlight, aiming it towards a cluster of protesters.
3:56 a.m. – A CHP officer aims a 40mm launcher at the eye level of protesters.
You can watch all of CalMatters’ videos from the protests here.
Police ultimately arrested 132 people at the encampment, where protesters were calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and demanding the University of California system divest from companies and institutions with financial ties to Israel. It was one of at least eight pro-Palestinian encampments in the UC system and approximately 180 nationwide, according to a directory of student encampments.
