A group of pro-Palestinian protesters said they released 500 cockroaches, smashed windows, and sprayed red paint at the University of California president’s office, located in Oakland, May 19.
A post on IndyBay—an open-publishing website for social justice news and activism based in the San Francisco Bay Area—said they “attacked the UC Office of the President in solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance.”
“Using a fire extinguisher filled with red paint we covered the facade and smashed seven windows,” the post, published by a user called “sacred back and red,” stated. “Then, with access to the building, we released 500 cockroaches inside and emptied a second fire [extinguisher] onto the interior.”
The post also said they left a water jug inscribed with the word “bonk” at the scene–an homage, they said, to the protesters at Cal Poly Humboldt and the international student encampment movement.
The term “bonk” has become associated with that university due to a viral incident where a student hit a police officer over the head with an empty water cooler bottle during a protest on campus, according to social media posts.
A spokesperson for the office of UC President Michael Drake confirmed to The Epoch Times that their building was “recently subjected to graffiti and other damage.”
“We are working with law enforcement to investigate the incident,” the spokesperson said in an email.
A spokesperson for the Oakland Police Department was not immediately available for comment.
The vandalism comes amid a nationwide movement of pro-Palestine protests on university campuses.
Protesters are calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, which began Oct. 7 with Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,400 people and saw the taking of 253 hostages.
Since then, Israeli strikes have killed about 33,600 Palestinians and injured more than 76,200, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported last month. Some hostages captured by Hamas have been released, but at least 32 have reportedly been killed in captivity.
