A UCLA student is speaking out for the first time after suing UCLA for racial discrimination, among other counts, alleging that he was blocked from entering certain parts of the campus because his African American identity was mistaken as Israeli, according to court documents.
Milagro Jones, an African American and Christian student at UCLA, gained online attention after anti-Israel protesters — who he called "White libs" — blocked him from entering certain parts of the campus. He sued UCLA, as well as the individuals alleged to have been involved in the encampment in May.
"It was a violent encampment. It was an antisemitic encampment, and I was a victim of what they had going on," Milagro Jones told Fox News Digital.
"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.
The lawsuit alleged that the anti-Israel encampment targeted him over his race "because he is an African American and was mistaken for an ‘Israeli agitator.’"
"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," the lawsuit said.
Jones said he was previously pro-Palestinian, but came to consider the movement antisemitic.
"I was lied to," he said.
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"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 referred to the campus protesters as "violent antisemites" and "Campus Terrorists."
The lawsuit also alleged that UCLA failed to enforce its policies by allowing the encampment to remain for days, leading to the alleged incident with Jones. Therefore, the university, the lawsuit argued, had culpability in the matter.
It accused UCLA of causing the event "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 "Campus Terrorists" and the individual defendants "aimed to sow division through disruptive and chaotic actions on the university campus," the lawsuit said, by disrupting classes, taking over buildings and intimidating Jewish students, faculty and anyone they considered an "agitator."
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The encampment began during the spring 2024 semester, when the anti-Israel students staged an illegal encampment on campus, allowing them to flagrantly violate UCLA rules and California laws, the suit alleged.
"For days, the unlawful encampment’s checkpoints illegally denied students access to campus buildings," the lawsuit said. "Jewish students and those perceived to be pro-Israel were attacked, harassed, and intimidated for walking on their own campus, and all UCLA students were denied a safe and uninterrupted learning environment."
UCLA released a statement to Fox News Digital, which said, "UCLA remains committed to supporting the safety and wellbeing of the entire Bruin community and we will respond to this filing in due course."
