In a controversial move, UCLA is accused of locking the doors of a venue in which pro-Israel students had planned to host an event featuring Robert Spencer, the founder of Jihad Watch. The event was organized by the university’s chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) and was scheduled for May 6. However, university administrators placed numerous obstacles in their path, which delayed the event.

Those criticizing the university’s move argue that it is a brazen violation of free speech rights on campus.

In a press release, YAF described what happened on May 15, the day the event was supposed to commence.

Under mounting pressure from pro-Hamas campus radicals who have been staging violent protests and encampments for weeks, the University of California-Los Angeles has canceled a pro-Israel event that was scheduled for this evening.  

Young America’s Foundation speaker and counter-Jihad expert Robert Spencer was scheduled to take the stage at 6:00 PM. However, the YAF advance team discovered that the doors of the Bruin Viewpoint Room were locked.

After contacting university officials, YAF was informed that the event would need to be moved to a low-traffic, remote location–an unacceptable last minute change that would have significantly impacted the event’s attendance and impact.

The move is also a clear violation of students’ constitutional rights.

For weeks, UCLA administrators have stalled the approval process in a clear attempt to ensure the event would not happen.

They started by warning that if the school’s pro-Hamas encampment was still in place on event day, it would be too dangerous to host an event where views in opposition to the campus radicals are expressed.

YAF, with the support of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, contested this decision, arguing that it constituted an unconstitutional use of the heckler’s veto. This legal pressure seemed to prompt the university to reconsider.

However, the school’s administrators “continued their attempts to threaten and dissuade the Young Americans for Freedom chapter leaders into capitulation” according to the press release, which also explained that while “things appeared to be moving forward, there was simply nothing they could do about the locked door, which administrators refused to open.”

In a post on X, just on the day the event was supposed to start, Spencer highlighted how the pro-Hamas elements on campus falsely labeled him as a white supremacist and threatened to stop the event.

So I’m supposed to speak at @UCLA tonight. So far the pro-Hamas campus fascists have:

1. Confused me with Richard Spencer;

2. Vowed to shut down the event;

3. Claimed victimhood and whined that their side hasn’t been heard despite getting favorable international coverage for months;

4. Claimed that UCLA is “Islamophobic” for allowing something other than “Palestinian” jihad propaganda to be heard;

5. Claimed that I am an evil character who supports terrorism (especially rich coming from supporters of Hamas).

And it’s not even 8AM yet.

So I’m supposed to speak at @UCLA tonight. So far the pro-Hamas campus fascists have:
1. Confused me with Richard Spencer;
2. Vowed to shut down the event;
3. Claimed victimhood and whined that their side hasn’t been heard despite getting favorable international coverage for…

— Robert Spencer (@jihadwatchRS) May 15, 2024

Matthew Weinberg, chairman of the UCLA YAF chapter, expressed frustration at the university’s actions, saying he was “deeply disappointed in UCLA’s failure to protect our First Amendment rights” and called their actions “an act of pure cowardice.”

During an earlier interview with Fox News Digital, Weinberg slammed the university’s leadership.

Weinberg told Fox News Digital earlier this month that he initially did not receive any word regarding the application from school leaders. He did eventually meet with administrators overseeing student engagement, but was told "there is no timeframe" for approving Spencer as a speaker.

"The fact that the school prioritizes agitators, some who aren’t even students, that are clearly violating campus policy and have been physically assaulting Jewish students, over students who engage in the free exchange of ideas like people in our chapter to me is absurd and demonstrates cowardice. It demonstrates a lack of moral clarity and this needs to be addressed," Weinberg said earlier this month.

However, the university has denied canceling the event. A university spokeswoman told the College Fix that “The event took place in the designated location after it shifted to a closed, recorded event as proposed by the organizer and agreed to by UCLA.”

Meanwhile, UCLA has allowed pro-Hamas student activists to demonstrate on campus with impunity. The activists have caused chaos inside and outside the encampment they erected on the premises last month.

It was a chaotic, ugly night on the UCLA campus Tuesday when pro-Hamas protesters who had taken over the quad clashed with a group who gathered outside their encampment; multiple violent fights broke out and the scene descended into absolute anarchy. Law enforcement didn’t show up for hours, but before that, there had been multiple assaults and serious injuries.

A student earlier this month posted video footage of the activist’s behavior, detailing their antisemitic rhetoric and violent attacks against Jewish students. "UCPD has been there every single day, just standing idly by, and I think that's because UCLA administration never told them to intervene. So this is really on the UCLA leadership for not shutting the encampment down on the very first night, after there was already physical violence,” she said.