Complaints Lodged against 6 UCSD Police Officers in Aftermath of SJP Demonstration

By Donald H. Harrison

LA JOLLA, California – Formal complaints against six University of California Police Officers have been lodged by Kerry Eskenas Schlossberg for what she alleges was their failure to protect counter-protesters at the March 6 anti-Israel demonstration by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

Schlossberg said she met with UCSD Detective Roy Vicente and an unidentified partner on Friday, March 8, to bring photos of an alleged perpetrator who poured water over her head and that of Physics Prof. Alex Groisman, and then, while running away, collided with Music  Prof. Shlomo Dubnov, fracturing his ankle.

Schlossberg complained that four officers had stood by as the incident was unfolding and did nothing to apprehend the as-yet-unidentified perpetrator.  She said they were Officers Phou, Rosales, Schulz and “a fourth one who was apparently not wearing a badge.”

Schlossberg said that prior to the incident she and other counter-protesters needed to walk from an outside intersection to a corner of the Matthews Quad from which they planned to observe the SJP demonstration. Noting that the area in between them and their destination was filled with anti-Israel protesters, she said she asked that her group, which was carrying Israeli flags and signs, be provided with an escort for purposes of safety.  She said that the request was refused by Officers Liu and Batista.  The group arrived safely on their own.

Schlossberg said Detective Vicente told her that a video that she supplied supported her contention that the four officers witnessed the incident and did not respond.  She said he also expressed surprise at the refusal of the two officers to assure the counter-protesters’ safety.  This could not be confirmed by Vicente or by the UCSD Police Department, which has not responded to repeated San Diego Jewish World requests for comment on Schlossberg’s allegations.

However, Matthew Nagel, UCSD’s senior executive director for public relations, did respond, saying,  “The matter is under investigation and we do not comment on ongoing investigations.”

On Monday, Dubnov confirmed his ankle was fractured.  He said he will be examined by an orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday.

Dubnov said he had asked university authorities whether approval was given to last week’s SJP event, per university regulations.  He said they replied that no approval was granted because the demonstration fell under a free speech exception when the event is in response to a fast-breaking situation.  In this case, that occurrence was the scheduled vote by the Associated Students later the same day on a successful resolution calling for AS divestment from companies doing business with Israel.

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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via sdheritage@cox.net