The UCLA Federalist Society invited James Percival, the General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security to speak on Tuesday, April 21. Unfortunately, there was a massive protest that disrupted the speech. Students consistently disrupted by the event by booing and heckling the speakers. There was a nonstop cacophony of ring tones and other sounds, again, which were intended to disrupt the event. This event has been covered by Fox News and the UCLA Daily Bruin.
I give credit to Professor Jon Michaels, who introduced the speaker. Michaels is a staunch critic of the Trump Administration, but still believes in the robust protection of free speech and discourse. Professor Greg McNeal of Pepperdine also deserves credit for posing tough questions to Percival. I cannot give credit to the UCLA Administration, which took no action to remove students causing the disruption, even after they were warned. I had flashbacks to when I was protested at the CUNY Law School in 2018.
My friend Yitzy Frankel shared some of the highlights here:
Truly abhorrent and unimaginable behavior today at the @FedSocUCLA event that hosted a @DHSgov lawyer. Leftist students repeatedly disrupted the event, yelled profanities, shouted, made their phones ping incessantly, and eventually stormed out to a rally that violated all time,… pic.twitter.com/DxqubGVleB
— YitzyFrankel (@YitZionist) April 21, 2026
You can watch the entire video here:
Even if UCLA takes no action, I seriously question how some of these students will fare as attorneys. For example, one student drew a sign that said “Hows Trump’s C**ck Taste?” (asterisks in the original). To be sure, there are valid grounds to criticize members of the Trump Administration. But what exactly does this vulgarity convey, other than showing the student is unable to engage in any reasoned discourse?
Another sign was directed at Matthew Weinberg, the chapter President of the UCLA FedSoc chapter. Weinberg, who is Jewish, is currently involved in litigation against the UCLA chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. This is a student who has faced anti-semitism on campus during the “encampment” movement. Yet another student, who was presumably Jewish, charged that it was Weinberg who was bringing a Nazi to campus:
“Weinberg – why’d you invite Nazis? Jew to Jew, Shame on You”
No, shame on the student holding this sign.
Indeed, a flyer compared Percival to Wilhelm Frick, the Nazi Minister of the Interior. One of the most depraved aspects of the modern left is to label everyone they disagree with as a “Nazi.” When I was in college, George W. Bush was a Nazi. Today, anyone associated with Donald Trump is a Nazi. To even make this linkage dilutes the unspeakable horrors of the Nazi regime. It’s no wonder people like Nick Fuentes can now say that Hitler was “cool.”
What will become of UCLA? Eugene Volokh is gone. Steve Bainbridge is near retirement. Jon Michaels and a few other old-school liberals remain, but for how long? Soon enough, this institution will be succumb to self-immolation.
Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Civil Rights Division, seems to have taken note:
Oh @UCLA…
Adding
To
The
List ….And it’s the wrong list https://t.co/q8PAaFoM6l
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) April 22, 2026
