Students arrested from UCI encampment are doxxed by truck billboard
The names and images of students arrested at UC Irvine’s pro-Palestine encampment last year were projected on a billboard truck driving through Irvine on Sept. 26. Accuracy in Media organized the doxxing after the Orange County District Attorney’s Office released the names and charges of 10 encampment protestors who were arrested last spring.
Accuracy in Media (AIM) is a pro-Israel non-profit conservative news media that attempts to “hold bad public policy actors accountable,” according to its website.
According to an Instagram reel by AIM, the truck parked on Irvine’s campus was issued a $500 citation after parking in a 15-minute loading zone for “16 minutes.” The organization asked for their followers to cover the cost of the ticket.
UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman released a statement to the campus community on Sept. 26 condemning the group. He did not mention dropping the charges against the arrested people.
“This doxxing behavior is loathsome and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Those behind these activities are debasing our political culture and attempting to undermine the values necessary to sustain a tolerant, diverse, democratic society,” Gillman said.
According to an Instagram post by UC Irvine’s Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine on Sept. 27, “UCI community members have faced months of incessant death and rape threats” since the encampment dispersion and dealt with “slander, defamation, and doxing” over the incident. They urged UCI to drop the charges against those arrested.
“We are extremely concerned that not doing so will result in the escalation of death and rape threats, thereby heightening the likelihood of overt violence, as well as the continued slander and doxing against members of our community,” the post read.
The Greater Los Angeles area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations also released a statement condemning the doxxing on Sept. 29, urging the University to take action.
Faculty associations file joint unfair labor practice against UC
The Council of University of California Faculty Associations made history after filing a joint Unfair Labor Practice against the UC — the first time they’ve filed since 1993. The state labor board granted a 60-day extension on Sept. 30 for the UC to reply.
The Council of Univeristy of California Faculty Associations (CUCFA), which represents UC campuses across the state, have accused the UC of carrying out a campaign to suppress pro-Palestinian speech and protests in violation of state labor law.
In a 581-page complaint, the (CUCFA) said UC administrators threatened faculty for teaching about the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and conducting disciplinary proceedings on faculty that have supported on-campus encampments and for supporting a student academic workers strike in spring.
CUCFA at UC Los Angeles, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC San Francisco co-signed the complaint.
“UC’s actions to suppress speech about Palestine on our campuses, which represents an illegal content-based restriction of faculty rights, sets an alarming precedent,” CUCFA President and UCSB professor Constance Penley said in a press release, according to the UCLA Daily Bruin. “Our unfair labor practice filing demands they change course and follow the law, and make whole the faculty who have been harmed.”
Even after the dispersement of encampments, the fallout has continued at campuses through new protest rules and students facing legal charges or still undergoing the student conduct process.
The joint filing builds upon an initial charge by the UCLA Faculty Association leveling similar allegations as unions representing UC employees, including the United Auto Workers Local 4811. Those claims state that the UC failed to maintain safe working conditions, disregarded employees’ right to free speech and made unlawful changes to campuses in response to protests.
After an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) is charged, the California Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) will review and evaluate the case — deciding to dismiss it or negotiate a settlement between the parties. PERB has yet to make a decision on any ULPs leveled against the UC since spring.
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