Farrah Khan, the Irvine Mayor, wants to make it known that she is not happy with the rapid work performed by the Orange County Police Task Force in quelling the pro-Hamas protests on the University of California Irvine Campus. The protestors occupied the Physical Science Lecture Hall and the plaza. Ten law enforcement agencies, including Irvine and Newport Beach, quickly converged officers in riot equipment in response to an alert from the campus that the protest was escalating. Khan decided to respond to this campus alert and excoriate police for their show of force. He also pontificated about freedom of expression… or something.
zotALERT: Protest has escalated near Physical Science Quad. Avoid the area. If you are in the area shelter in place for your safety until further notice.
— UC Irvine (@UCIrvine) May 15, 2024
It’s a shame that peaceful free speech protests are always responded to with violence. Taking space on campus or in a building is not a threat to anyone. UCI leadership must do everything they can to avoid creating a violent scenario here. These are your students w/ zero weapons.
— Office of Mayor Farrah N. Khan (@MayorofIrvine) May 15, 2024
It is a shame to see that violent responses are always used against peaceful protests for free speech. It is not dangerous to take up space in a campus building or on campus. UCI’s leadership must do all they can to prevent a violent situation. These are your students with zero weapons.
Khan would have preferred that it escalated to someone being bludgeoned like the young Iranian Jew who was at the pro-Hamas protests at UCLA. Have you ever seen students and journalists harassed for refusing to bend their knees to the pro-Hamas crowds? Khan did not defend the Irvine PD in 2021 when the soon-to-be former Rep. Katie Porter, D-47, sent Khan texts criticizing the Irvine cops’ arrest of her partner for assaulting a protestor during one of Porter’s town halls. After serving two terms as Mayor, this woman is now running to be the Orange County Board of Supervisors. This would give her more control over police oversight.
Orange County residents need to be scared. Fearful.
Will O’Neill, the Mayor of Newport Beach, stepped in to take Khan’s place. Newport Beach made headlines recently when a resident used a gun to defend themselves against intruders. One of the intruders was hospitalized and one was permanently ventilated. O’Neill stood by the homeowner, praised the city’s police for their handling of the situation, and warned the criminals to beware.
Leadership looks like this
O’Neill demonstrated it again, highlighting the dangerous job police officers perform in these situations. He also stressed that they should not be accused of escalating violent incidents but rather praised and supported.
It’s a shame that peaceful free speech protests are always responded to with violence. Taking space on campus or in a building is not a threat to anyone. UCI leadership must do everything they can to avoid creating a violent scenario here. These are your students w/ zero weapons.
— Office of Mayor Farrah N. Khan (@MayorofIrvine) May 15, 2024
At the request of an emergency mutual aid call, police officers from Newport Beach have been dispatched to Irvine. Your careless language makes it seem as if you’re accusing our officers and the officers of other law enforcement agencies that responded preemptively to violence. If this is what you intended, then your message is below the office of the mayor. If you are not sure, please clarify as soon as possible.
O’Neill replied on Thursday. This post was published on Wednesday afternoon. At the time of writing, there are no posts on the Mayor’s X page about the UC Irvine protests and Khan’s previous statement. Khan does not seem to have misspoken and is unwilling to clarify. One can assume that Khan agrees with the pro-Hamas protestors and that her views represent the leftist ideology that permeates UC campuses such as Irvine and UCLA. She does not represent Orange County’s law enforcement, nor the majority of residents. The X from Wednesday’s post has not been removed.
The chancellor stated the following in a report on the protests at UC Irvine:
“I was willing to allow an encampment on campus to be peaceful without resorting to police intervention even though it violated our policies. The encampment’s existence was a source of great distress for other members of our communities.
After weeks of the encampers reassuring our community that their goal was to maintain a peaceful, non-disturbing encampment it was shocking to see them change the situation dramatically in a manner that was an assault on other students’ rights and the mission of the university.
Khan’s statement is not mentioned.
Here’s what cowardice looks like. Orange County residents should not give her another position.
