Exclusive – The UCLA School of Law is facing discrimination charges after an administrator allegedly threatened to discipline a conservative campus group for spotting protesters disrupting recent events.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) said it has sent a letter urging the university to withdraw what it calls threats to the rights of Federalist Society members.
The controversy stems from an April 21 event hosted by James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). More than 150 protesters swarmed the venue, booing, shouting obscenities and, according to Percival, issuing death threats.
In an April 22 email obtained by Fox News Digital, UCLA Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Bayrex Martí warned Federalist Society President Matthew Weinberg not to identify the saboteurs.
UC Regents slams Berkeley event featuring failed suicide bomber as ‘abhorrent and abhorrent’
Powell Library as seen from Royce Hall at UCLA in Westwood, California on April 8, 2025.
(iStock)
“I have also seen requests online to identify students in the audience visible in the video,” Marty wrote. “I strongly encourage you and other organizers not to reveal these details.”
Read it on the Fox News app
Marty warned that if the names were leaked and those protesters subsequently faced online criticism or harassment, the Federalist Society itself would be responsible for “reasonably foreseeable” consequences.
The dean added: “If, despite the tenor of some online comments, this information is shared and an implicated student reports conduct by anyone who falls within the conduct prohibited by the Code of Student Conduct, then the student organization and/or individual student may be associated with it (alleging that, when the name is disclosed, the outcome is reasonably predictable) and subject to campus proceedings.”
Harvard students protest new grading policy, calling it ‘racist’
Jessie Appleby, FIRE’s program advisor, writes that students participating in publicly recorded events do not expect privacy.
“While online criticism can sometimes be painful, UCLA may not restrict protected speech solely to protect student protesters from the consequences of their actions,” Appleby wrote.
A UCLA flyer obtained by Fox News Digital that contains text and graphics.
FIRE also claimed that UCLA was applying a double standard, claiming that while Federalist Society members were being silenced, protesters were “identifying and mocking” them online.
Last week, the school administration issued a statement to Fox News Digital defending the event and noting that it had ended.
“UCLA School of Law is committed to free speech and academic freedom, including views that may be controversial or hotly contested,” it reads.
UCLA student union condemns former Israeli hostage incident on campus
“This student-organized event, and its eventual conclusion, is an example of these principles in action. The School of Law worked in advance with the Office of Campus and Community Safety to support this event and uphold the University’s commitment to the free exchange of ideas.”
Click here to download the Fox News app
At the event, students booed Percival, called him a “Nazi” and held signs, one of which read “F— you loser.” Percival told “The Will Caine Show” that the experience was “not a pleasant one.”
“When I got to college campuses, I might get death threats, but the people I worked with at DHS were getting death threats just for coming to work every day,” Percival said. “I really feel like I have an obligation to the people I work with to not back down and step up and take some abuse.”
“We are committed to upholding the First Amendment. We have received this letter and plan to respond,” a spokesperson for the UCLA School of Law told Fox News Digital.
Original source of the article: UCLA officials warn conservative law students they face disciplinary action for identifying liberal protesters