Departure Follows Criticism of UCLA’s Handling of Violent Attack on Students
UCLA Police Chief John Thomas has officially left his position, according to a brief social media statement from the UCLA Police Department. His last day was December 10, 2024. Captain Scott Scheffler has been appointed interim police chief while the university searches for a permanent replacement.
Chief Thomas’ departure comes seven months after a night of vigilante violence on April 30, when a mob of approximately 100 people attacked the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on campus. The incident, which stretched into the early hours of May 1, left students, faculty, and journalists on their own and without any protection during an attack where pepper spray, fireworks, and blunt instruments were used to attempt to break into the encampment.
During the four-hour assault, neither the UCLA administrators, the UCLA Police Department, private security, nor the Los Angeles Police Department intervened until Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered LAPD to respond at 1:47 a.m.
The night’s events seem out of the ordinary because nearly any time a group of protesters gathered since 2020 in Los Angeles, police are immediately dispatched with riot gear, “less lethal” weapons, and shields in short order, usually in under an hour.
Thomas was also criticized for the LAPD and CHP raid on the encampment on the night of May 1 during which 200 students and others were arrested. Students were shot with rubber bullets from “less lethal” weapons, tear gas, batons, and flash bangs after enduring the previous night’s attack. During a CAIR question and answer session, Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt, a Vice-Chancellor at the time, refused to answer student questions about who made the decision, implying that the decision was out of his hands.
Thomas was “temporarily reassigned” after the attack but up until this week, no other information had been released by UCPD regarding Thomas’ employment.
In the wake of Chief Thomas’ departure, Wade Stern, president of the Federated University Peace Officers Association (FUPOA), issued a statement criticizing UCLA leadership and defending Thomas’ record. Stern argued that UCLA administrators failed to provide clear directives or involve the police department in planning for campus protests, resulting in disorganized and ineffective responses.
“The departure of former UCLA Police Chief John Thomas underscores the glaring lack of accountability among UCLA administrators for the disorganized and ineffective response to last spring’s campus protests,” Stern said.
Stern added, “As we have said since May, the UCLA administration owns the failure of any protest response, and the public should reject their attempts to shift blame to law enforcement. The recently released “Independent Investigation & After-Action Review” on the UCLA response to the protests in April-May is a damming indictment of the UCLA campus leadership. Issuing reports and making empty promises of corrective action without holding any administrators accountable is both unacceptable and emblematic of systemic negligence. Chief Thomas, a dedicated leader, deserves far better than to be scapegoated for the administration’s repeated failures and poor decision-making. This situation demands accountability and meaningful reform, not deflection.”
Rick Braziel and UCLA have not released any statements or a response to the FUPOA statement.
