Charges Filed Against Edan On, After LA District Attorney Dropped Charges
Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced on Friday, April 25, that her office will not pursue criminal charges in the majority of cases stemming from mass arrests during the 2024 protests at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC).
After nearly a year of the possibility of charges being filed against many of the students who were arrested during the encampment protests at UCLA and USC, Feldstein-Soto made this announcement shortly before the first anniversary of the encampments and right after the 31 protesters who were prosecuted for blocking the 110 Freeway as part of a pro-Palestininan protest were charged for protesting.
The 31 protesters, primarily members of the Jewish pro-Palestinian group If Not Now, and their lawyer alleged that the charges against them were a case of selective prosecution because peaceful protesters, even those who block traffic are rarely prosecuted, and a judge agreed with them.
Edan On, who was 18 years old at the time of the UCLA attack, was charged with battery (PC 242) and brandishing a weapon (PC 417(a)(1)). He was reportedly a student at Beverly Hills High and has allegedly moved to Israel and joined the IDF.
One member of the encampment was charged: Matthew Katz was charged with battery (PC 242), false imprisonment (PC 236), and resisting arrest (PC 148(a)(1)).
However, the majority of the attackers on the encampment on April 30 and May 1, estimated to be around 100 masked men, were never arrested. Only three others have been charged for the brutal assaults and firing explosives into the camp for hours, when the UCLA Administration, LAPD, and the city of Los Angeles refused to intervene and left the people there to protect themselves.
The City Attorney’s Office reviewed more than 300 referrals related to arrests made during protests on both campuses in April and May. After evaluating the evidence, the office declined to file charges in most cases, citing insufficient evidence or a lack of cooperation from the universities in identifying suspects or providing key information.
“After careful consideration, we are filing criminal charges against two individuals and sending three others to City Attorney Hearings,” Feldstein Soto said in a statement. She thanked her Criminal Branch attorneys for “their dedication to the rule of law and their commitment to objectively evaluating the evidence.”
While most cases were dropped, the City Attorney’s Office moved forward with limited action where evidence supported it.
At UCLA, 205 arrests from May 1–2 and 40 arrests from May 6 were all declined due to insufficient evidence. At USC, 93 arrests from an April 24 protest were similarly declined.
Beyond the mass protest-related arrests, the City Attorney’s Office reviewed additional incidents involving alleged criminal conduct separate from protesting. In these cases:
- Four matters were declined due to insufficient evidence.
- Three individuals were referred to City Attorney Hearings, an informal diversionary process designed to avoid formal misdemeanor charges. Those individuals are identified as Ali Abuamouneh and Karla Maria Aguilar, both of whom were arrested at the University of Southern California (USC), and David Fischel, who was arrested at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
