The Brief

On the afternoon of May 15, Brook Haley made his way to UC Irvine’s physical sciences quad. There, the longtime humanities lecturer joined other faculty and students who’d gathered to commemorate the 1948 Nakba, draw attention to the ongoing siege on Gaza and reflect on the aftermath of crackdowns on campus protests.

Last spring, hundreds of police officers in riot gear dismantled UCI’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Haley was among dozens of activists who were arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for failing to disperse. This year, the event’s organizers, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), invited him to make a short speech. Haley prepared remarks about the suppression of speech and academic inquiry.

But before Haley got the chance to speak, he said, campus police descended on him and pulled him from the crowd.

At the time, Haley told LAist, he had no idea why he was being detained. He would eventually be told it was for vandalism of a campus fountain.

“I was shaking,” he said. “I couldn't believe it.”

Haley was arrested, jailed and banned from campus for two weeks. Faculty who can't come to campus, can't teach. Faculty who can't teach, can lose their jobs.

And while Haley has managed to hold onto his, the incident shows the precarious position for faculty who want to join in activist movements but who otherwise lack job protections.

What happened at the protest?

UCI has not turned over any video of the incident.

One video from a community member shows at least three police officers leading Haley away from the group. One of them held Haley by the wrist. The other held on to Haley’s elbow. Another officer followed close by. Haley wore a disposable surgical mask, a pink trilby hat, a keffiyeh and a black backpack.

When they got to the patrol car, Haley said, the officers informed him that he’d been arrested under suspicion of felony vandalism.

And then, for the second time in a year, Haley was taken to a Santa Ana jail.

Haley, a UCI alumnus, is a lecturer in the school of humanities.

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Courtesy Brook Haley

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UCI spokesperson Tom Vasich said via email that campus police arrested Haley for vandalizing the Infinity Fountain in the center of campus “by pouring red dye into it.” A student was also arrested for vandalism, he said.

In California, vandalism can be a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the amount of damage caused by the suspect. Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the O.C. District Attorney's Office, said prosecutors have not decided whether to press charges against Haley and the student.

Haley was released on bond the following day.

Why was Haley banned from campus?

When he and the officers got to the patrol car the day of his arrest, Haley said he was told they had video evidence of him committing the crime. LAist asked UCI for the footage but was denied. In an email, Vasich said: “This remains an active investigation, and [campus police are] still acquiring information.”

On top of the potential felony charge, Haley was banned from campus for two weeks.

According to Haley, a detective filled out the ban notice while they were still in a campus parking lot. The notice cites California Penal Code Section 626.4:

The notice warned Haley that he could be arrested if he entered campus before the ban was lifted.

Jonathan Markovitz, a senior staff attorney at ACLU of Southern California who specializes in freedom of expression, said the penal code section allows for a ban of up to 14 days.

But, he added via email: “[T]he ban is only allowed when there’s reasonable cause [to believe that] the person has willfully disrupted the campus, AND can only last for as long as the university has reason to believe the person CONTINUES to pose that kind of threat.”

Initially, one of Haley’s colleagues helped cover his class. Then, Haley’s supervisors in the school of humanities let him continue teaching on Zoom. Without their help, Haley told LAist, he could have lost his job.

What is due process at a public university?

LAist sent a list of questions about the two-week ban to UCI, including:

• Is a two-week ban standard when a non-tenured faculty member is arrested on campus?
• Would it be accurate to say that when a non-tenured faculty member is arrested on campus, they are usually fired, since they are unable to perform their work duties given the two-week ban?

Vasich, the campus spokesperson, said the university “would not have a comment about a personnel issue.”

State law allows ban recipients to submit a written request for a hearing. In a separate email, Vasich added: “Any UC Irvine affiliate can request a hearing to appeal the decision.” He also shared a blank copy of the notice Haley received.

Fearing his employment was at risk, Haley asked his union — the University Council of the American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT) — to represent him in conversations with the UCI’s Academic Personnel office.

In an email, Haley said the office’s response “made us feel that an appeal was not a timely or productive way to face the threat of my dismissal.”

“The illegitimacy of my arrest and the trauma of the experience dissuaded me from pursuing the appeal once the union determined what was best for me as a member,” Haley added. “The open hostility that the chancellor has shown for Palestine activism generally and leaders of SJP, who had invited me to speak, also made it harder to see the appeal as a reasonable step.”

Honora St. Clair, a UC-AFT’s field representative, said via email “the university's position was that there was no appeal process, that this was a criminal matter and not an employment matter.”

“I argued that a wrongful arrest accompanied by a two-week campus ban impacts his employment and therefore our position is that this is an employment matter. [The Academic Personnel office] disagreed and told us there is no role for the union in this matter,” St. Clair added. “Dr. Haley did not commit any vandalism and we believe he was targeted because of his activism. We will aggressively pursue every avenue available to clear his name and hold the university accountable.”

The union launched a letter writing campaign to urge UCI chancellor Howard Gillman to lift the ban. More than 7,400 people signed on.

Haley said he is “absolutely confident [that his arrest] will lead to no charges or eventual innocence.” Following his release from jail, Haley had to navigate other obstacles to teaching, including getting locked out of the university assignment portal. The police confiscated his backpack when they arrested him, which contained more than a dozen midterm exams that still needed grading.

Thanks to colleagues in the school of humanities, Haley was able to retrieve his bag. When he opened it, he found his students’ papers, his dry erase markers, and a draft of the speech he didn’t get to deliver. The police kept his phone, his hat and his keffiyeh.

'It could happen to any of us'

On May 15, political science professor Cecelia Lynch arrived on campus in the afternoon to join the protest, she told LAist. She noticed a growing police presence.

“One is now left to wonder: Were they determined to arrest somebody or make a show of this? . . . I really don't know,” she said.

The student organizers had laid out a banner charging chancellor Gillman with being complicit in Israel’s war effort. The student activists also placed stuffed sheets with red markings in the quad, “to look like baby bodies,” Lynch said. At the time, the UN warned that if Israel did not allow aid to enter Gaza immediately, 14,000 babies could die.

Lynch was close to Haley throughout the event, she said. As she was planning to leave, she noticed Haley was being detained.

Last year, Lynch served as a liaison between pro-Palestine student activists and the police. Students asked her to take on the role again this year. Clad in an orange vest, Lynch approached the officers who encircled Haley.

“Excuse me, I’m a police liaison,” she remembered saying. “Can you tell me what’s going on?” One of the officers, she said, simply told her to “back up.”

In conversation with LAist, UCI professors who participated in this year’s event discussed Haley’s arrest in the context of a nationwide crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists, including the high-profile detention of visa holders and permanent residents.

“It is as though the chancellor and the university are almost doing the Trump administration's bidding — that's how it feels,” Lynch said.

Associate professor Sanghyuk Shin also attended the event. He described Haley's arrest as an “escalation of the repression that we've been seeing.” UCI “definitely sent a message,” he added, “whether intentionally or unintentionally.”

“What happened to Brook could happen to any of us,” Shin said. “I think we all need to stick together.”

Vasich shared the following statement: “UC Irvine respects the rights of individuals to free speech and peaceful assembly. At the same time, we are committed to helping maintain a safe and lawful campus environment and to protecting university property. The university continues to uphold its policies and all applicable laws.”

Getting back to his students

Haley earned his master’s degree and doctorate in comparative literature at UCI. And he remains a proud anteater, he said, in reference to the school’s mascot — in spite of his two arrests.

Haley said he has received dozens of emails from people expressing support. Emails from students have been especially moving. “They're telling me that I'm teaching them even though I'm not in class. That’s very powerful to me,” he said.

In March, Haley spoke with LAist about how campus protests might change in light of the Trump administration’s targeting of activists who aren’t U.S. citizens.

“I really thought, ‘Hey, I'm a white guy with U.S. citizenship. I have [multiple] degrees, employment from UCI for almost 30 years now.’ I thought that would provide me with some safety against suppression and persecution,” he said. “I do now believe that I was wrong.”

This realization, however, hasn’t changed Haley’s attitude toward activism.

Once he’s back on campus, he said, “I expect to be attending any rally for the organizations that I specifically support, especially my unions, affiliated unions, [and] SJP.”

In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena and Pasadena’s music community have really shown up to support fire survivors, especially fellow musicians who lost instruments and record collections.

That effort continues this weekend with a special donation concert at a Pasadena record store, with the aim of getting vinyl records back in the hands of survivors who lost their collections.

“You know, our name is Healing Force of the Universe, and I think that gives me a pretty clear direction… especially after the fires,” said Austin Manuel, founder of Pasadena record store, where Sunday’s show will be held.

The record donation effort is the brainchild of musician Brandon Jay, who founded the nonprofit Altadena Musicians after losing his home and almost all of his family’s instruments in the Eaton Fire. Through Altadena Musicians’s donation and registry platform, Jay said he and his partners have helped some 1,200 fire survivors get their music instruments back.

Brandon Jay.

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Robert Garrova

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LAist

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Now, that effort has fanned out to restoring vinyl record collections.

“All of that stuff evaporated for thousands of people,” Jay said. “Look at your own record collection and be like, ‘Wow, what if that whole thing disappeared?’”

You might know Jay from several bands over the years, including Lutefisk, a 1990s alt-rock band based in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, composed music for TV shows, including Orange is the New Black and Weeds.

Jay plans to play some holiday tunes at Sunday's record donation show (which LAist is the media sponsor), along with fellow musician Daniel Brummel of Sanglorians. Brummel, who was also a founding member of Pasadena’s indie-rock sensation Ozma, said he was grateful to Jay for his fire recovery work and to Manuel for making Healing Force available for shows like this.

Brummel, who came close to losing his own home in the Eaton Fire, recalled a show he played at Healing Force back in March.

Ryen Slegr (left) and Daniel Brummel perform with their band, Ozma, on the 2014 Weezer Cruise.

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Even Keel Imagery

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“The trauma of the fires was still really fresh,” Brummel said. After playing a cover of Rufus Wainwright’s “Going to a Town,” that night — which includes the lyrics “I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down” — Brummel said his neighbors in the audience told him the rendition hit them hard. “It felt really powerful. And without that space, it just wouldn’t have occurred.”

Details

Healing Force of the Universe Record Donation Show
Featuring: Quasar (aka Brandon Jay), Sanglorians (Daniel Brummel) and The Acrylic.
Sunday, Dec. 14; 2 to 5 p.m.
1200 E. Walnut St., Pasadena
Tickets are $15 or you can donate 5 or more records at the door. More info here.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.