Police needed to calm crowd at UCI event

Deepa Bharath and Jon Lindsey

UCI CAMPUS -- Campus police had to use batons to quell an angry mob of

students Thursday night after an event that featured speakers on issues

relating to the current conflict in the Middle East, officials said.

No injuries or arrests were reported, and no charges were filed,

officials said Friday.

The event titled “Perspectives on Peace: Things you won’t hear

anywhere else about the Middle East,” was organized by several Jewish

groups on campus, including Hillel and the Anteaters for a Free Israel.

About 300 people -- including several Jewish and Muslim students --

attended the event, which was peaceful for the most part, said Kathy

Hooven, chief of the UCI Police Department.

“At the very end of the event, there were some people yelling,

screaming and getting upset,” she said.

Hooven said no tear gas was used but campus police had to use batons

to control the crowd.

“There were a few scuffs, pushing, yelling and screaming,” she said.

“Batons were used at one point.”

One student said the fight broke out because of the inflammatory tone

of the speakers.

“They literally painted the Arabs as nothing more than animals,”

Abreham Appel said. “This happened because they were told for hours what

animals we were.”

Heather Pobiner, a member of Hillel at UC Irvine, said the goal of the

event was to present both sides of the issue.

“It’s not just presenting the Israeli point of view,” she said. “The

speakers we had represented Muslims, as well as Jews. It was meant to

look at the situation and why things are the way they are.”

Fareeha Kibria, a computer science major, said she believed the amount

of force used by campus police was excessive. She said she saw a campus

policeman hit another student.

“He hit him on the [arm] and someplace else,” she said. “His hand was

all swollen.”

Kibria said that the student was actually the one who was being

attacked by other students and police.

“It was not necessary,” she said. “You don’t hit the guy who is being

attacked.”

Hooven said there have been several protests and demonstrations on

campus over the last 10 years and police must resort to force when

situations call for it.

“It’s not that unusual,” she said. “It is our role to preserve freedom

of speech.”

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .

* Jon Lindsey is an Orange Coast College student.