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Police Intervene at UCLA after Violent Clashes Involving Anti-Israel Protesters

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Law enforcement was forced to intervene at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) early Wednesday morning after hours of violent clashes involving anti-Israel protesters. The Los Angeles Police Department arrived at the university at the administration’s request following violent tussles Tuesday evening where mace and barricades appeared to be used as weapons.

National Review explains that the encampment started on Royce Quad, and footage emerged of the protesters beating a Jewish girl unconscious, resulting in a concussion. Footage of a separate incident appeared to show protesters holding a Jewish student against his will on Tuesday and preventing him from leaving the encampment. UCLA protesters on Monday also seemed to prevent a Jewish student from going to class by lining up and preventing the student from accessing the main entrance to his lecture hall.

“Many of the demonstrators, as well as counter-demonstrators who have come to the area, have been peaceful in their activism. But the tactics of others have frankly been shocking and shameful,” Block said in a statement Tuesday.

“UCLA supports peaceful protest, but not activism that harms our ability to carry out our academic mission and makes people in our community feel bullied, threatened and afraid. These incidents have put many on our campus, especially our Jewish students, in a state of anxiety and fear,” he continued.

“We have significantly increased our security presence in the area, including adding greater numbers of law enforcement officers, safety personnel and student affairs mitigators. We have also engaged law enforcement to investigate the recent acts of violence.”

 

 

 

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Republican Lawmakers Launch Investigation into Withholding of Data on Gender-Related Treatments for Minors

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Republican lawmakers are opening an investigation into the withholding of data from a government-funded study on the effects of gender-related medical treatments for minors. This inquiry, as reported by National Review, centers on concerns over the politicization of science and the transparency of taxpayer-funded research.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R., Wash.), chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, strongly condemned the withholding of study findings. “This is a clear example of the politicization of science at the expense of children,” Rodgers said. “Research funded by taxpayer dollars through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) should be publicly disclosed regardless of the results, and Americans deserve access to the truth.” She added that the House Energy and Commerce Committee will investigate the matter.

At the heart of the investigation is a study led by Johanna Olson-Kennedy, medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. The study, which began in 2015 and received $5.7 million in NIH funding, examines the effects of gender-affirming care in adolescents, focusing on 95 minors, averaging 11 years old, who were treated with puberty blockers. Over nine years, the study has reportedly received nearly $10 million in federal funding.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Olson-Kennedy stated that puberty-blocking drugs had not resulted in significant mental health improvements for the children in the study. Instead, she argued that the children were already in good condition prior to the treatments. This claim appears to conflict with a 2020 paper by the same research team, which reported that nearly a quarter of the cohort had endorsed lifetime suicidal ideation prior to receiving puberty blockers.

Olson-Kennedy has been withholding the complete data, citing political concerns. According to The New York Times, she feared that the findings could be “weaponized” to support legal efforts to ban gender-related treatments for minors. She worried that the results might be used in court to argue against the use of puberty blockers.

Republican lawmakers were swift to condemn this action. Morgan Griffith (R., Va.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, criticized the withholding of the data, calling it “irresponsible and inappropriate.” He emphasized that the American public has the right to “follow the science” even when findings contradict certain political agendas.

Representative Diana Harshbarger (R., Tenn.) echoed these sentiments, calling it “outrageous” that taxpayer-funded research could be suppressed to align with a particular political viewpoint. “This is a glaring example of why NIH must be reformed with measures like those initiated by Chair Rodgers to ensure transparency, standards of objectivity, and the removal of conflicts of interest in federal taxpayer-funded scientific and medical research,” she told National Review.

Brett Guthrie (R., Ky.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, emphasized the need for transparency from public health institutions. He expressed frustration that the study’s findings were not being published, stating, “Not publishing the results of taxpayer-funded research in fear of political blowback… fundamentally undermines the very nature of scientific research.” He further called for the immediate suspension of NIH funding for the study until the results are made public.

According to the NIH, Olson-Kennedy’s team received more than $950,000 in government funding for 2023 alone. Robert Aderholt (R., Ala.) highlighted that by receiving nearly $10 million in taxpayer dollars, Olson-Kennedy has an obligation to provide the public with the study’s results. He accused the left of hiding scientific data that doesn’t align with their agenda, adding, “When the science doesn’t back up their point of view, they will gladly try to hide it.”

Olson-Kennedy, who is also the president-elect of the United States Professional Association for Transgender Health, has been a vocal advocate for gender-affirming medical treatments for minors. In a previous study, she co-authored research that claimed chest reconstruction surgery (mastectomy) had a positive effect on transmasculine minors and young adults.

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